Slayers: Another Adventure!
by TheGuineapig3
Summary: "Lina, come on. He's just a little kid, all alone. It wouldn't be right just to leave him out here."- Lina, Gourry, and friends get more than they bargained for when they rescue a kidnapped child from a group of bandits! L/G A/Z. T for some mild violence.
1. 1: Search! The new ally is a 3 year old?

-Oh my gosh! My first ever published fanfic! Hooray! I've tried to keep it as in-character as possible, hopefully you enjoy it. Random disclaimer: the basics of fan-fiction is that it is FICTION written by a FAN. Obviously meaning I don't own anything. Of course? Right. So now enjoy the story! :3-

**1- Search! The new ally is a 3-year-old? **

"They've got to be around here somewhere!" Lina groaned. "We have to find them to return those old books to the library… and get the reward!"

"Why would any thieves want to steal books from a library? The librarian said that the stolen books were old, not to mention written in a strange language that nobody could read. It seems weird to me." Gourry puzzled.

"Who cares as long as we get that reward for returning the books, right?" Lina said definitively. "And with that, we continue our search!" Lina walked farther on into the forest, not looking back to see if her friend was following. Gourry sighed, and continued after her anyway.

After helping Pokota rescue his country (not to mention saving the world- again!- in the process), Lina and Gourry had continued on their travels, collecting rewards for capturing bandits. Not much had changed- Lina was just as greedy as ever, and Gourry was still quite forgetful (though his memory had been improving.)

When Gourry caught up to her, Lina was hiding behind a tree and staring at something beyond it. "Hey Lina, what are you looking a-"

"Shhhhhh!" Lina violently silenced him. "I think those are the thieves we've been looking for!"

"Them?" Gourry inquired, glancing at the strange-looking group of men. "They seem kind of scary. What need would they have for old, unreadable books?"

"Who cares? If we get the books back, then we get our reward. It doesn't matter one bit why those thieves wanted them."

"I don't know, Lina… I have a bad feeling about this."

"Forget it Gourry. Now on three, we'll go for a surprise attack- one… two…"

On three, the pair jumped out at the group of strange men- Gourry with his sword drawn and Lina with a fireball ready to shoot at anyone who dared to defy her. They were a formidable force, and the astonished looks of the thieves showed that their surprise attack had gone as planned.

"So, you're the thieves who stole the books from the nearby village, huh?" Lina accused. The silent response from the band of men showed that she was correct.

"Who are you anyway?"

"I'm glad you asked. You may have heard of me. I'm Lina Inverse, the famed bandit slayer." Lina said, a cruel smile spreading on her face, waiting for their panicked response. Unfortunately, she was disappointed.

"Lina Inverse?" "Who's that?" "Never heard of her." Came the mixed response from the group of thieves.

"Y-you've honestly never heard of me?" Lina exclaimed, startled. Usually bandits would quake in fear at the very mention of her name. Often, some would surrender on the spot. The notion that any group of thieves wouldn't know of her didn't seem humanly possible.

"W-well, that's who I am, and I haven't gotten this reputation for nothing. Let me show you a little. FIREBALL!"

The men that the fireball was aimed at jumped frantically out of the way just in time for it to graze past them and singe a nearby tree. A tall man who seemed to be somewhat of a leader turned to Lina. "So, ya think you're tough, do ya? Let's show this little punk what she's really dealing with!"

The group of thieves, about 12 or 13 in all, began to attack with dark magical energy. Lina and Gourry were evidently surprised, not because the bandits could use magic, but because of their apparent strength. The thieves were stronger than they appeared.

"Looks like we've got to step up our game a bit." Lina said. Gourry nodded.

"Right. Take THIS!" Gourry's excellent swordsmanship caught the men off guard for a moment as they were hit by his attack. Lina followed with a barrage of fireballs. The men who had come to attack first now seemed reluctant to fight. This angered the leader.

"What are you cowards doing! Attack them now!" He yelled.

"If you want, you could simply give us the books. Then we'll leave you in peace. How about it?" Lina bargained. She knew that she could easily take down the bandits, but if she could convince them to surrender, it would save her the effort of defeating them.

"N-never! We're not gonna hand those books over to somebody like you!" The leader responded.

"Well then, I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way." Lina said, smiling her usual, cruel smile. "_Darkness beyond twilight... crimson beyond blood that flows..." _

The attitude of the men seemed to change as Lina began her incantation. "N-no way... that's..."

"_DRAGON SLAVE!"_

The explosion that followed blew most of the bandits away. The others that were left scrambled to escape Lina's wrath. They weren't so brave anymore.

"Hmph, they weren't so tough." Lina said triumphantly. "Now to go through their stuff and find those stolen books."

Lina and Gourry searched through the bandit's camp, in an attempt to find the stolen books. Lina found a few sealed in some of the tents. She was counting them to see if she had them all- there were still a few missing. Lina opened one of the books to see what information it might contain. She was met with a strange mix of symbols that she had never seen. It was impossible to make sense of them. _Why would a weak group of bandits want something strange like this? Perhaps there's more to this situation than meets the eye... _She wondered. A sudden cry of exclamation pulled her from her thoughts.

"Lina! Come here!"

Lina stood up quickly. "What is it? Did you find the rest of the books?" She asked.

"No- I found something else!"

Lina followed Gourry's voice to a dark side of the camp, where a small half-tent was set up. She wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but when she saw it she gasped in surprise.

Lying under the shelter, tied up with strong rope, was a small child- a boy who couldn't be more than 3 or 4 years old. He had unruly brown hair, and was wearing clothes very different from that of the group of bandits. Whoever he was, he obviously wasn't part of them. Lina bent down to get a closer look.

"Is he… alright?" She asked hesitantly. Gourry nodded.

"Yeah, he's just unconscious- but he's all tied up. Do you think he could have been kidnapped?"

"Who knows? I guess the first thing to do is get him untied."

Gourry took his sword and began cutting the rope gently and carefully. Lina couldn't help smiling, thinking of all the reckless damage that the sword could do to thieves and bandits. The boy was now untied, and was slowly returning to consciousness. "Huh… wha…" He murmured unintelligibly. The boy turned to look at Lina. He had large, tearful, green eyes that almost made even Lina want to comfort the little child.

Almost.

"A-are you okay?" Gourry asked.

The boy looked around, as if he wasn't sure, but then turned back to Gourry and nodded. "I'm alright…" he said, his voice trailing off.

Lina got up, and stared down at the kid. "What's your name anyway?" She asked.

"Zara." He answered, still somewhat unsure.

"Zara, huh?" Lina continued. "Well, where do you come from? What are you doing here?"

Zara paused for a moment, looking as if he was in deep thought. "I… I don't know…" He finally said.

"You… you don't know?" Lina said in disbelief. Sure, Zara was young, but he couldn't be completely ignorant- could he?

"Don't you have parents? What are they like? Where are they?" Gourry inquired. Zara looked as if Gourry had asked him and incredibly difficult question, before finally repeating his previous answer.

He still didn't know.

Lina groaned. _It's like trying to get answers from Xellos… _she thought. "So, basically you don't know anything besides your name?" She asked.

Zara closed his eyes and thought for a long moment. He then nodded matter-of-factly, as if it were a simple question to answer.

Lina was astounded. Who was this kid anyway? Why didn't he know anything? Was it possible that the thieves had…

"Did the thieves erase your memory or something?" Gourry asked. Zara didn't hesitate to answer this time. He clearly didn't know. Lina angrily punched Gourry over the head.

"What a stupid question! If the thieves did erase his memory, then how would he know that they did?"

"Oh, uh… I didn't think about that."

"You never think about anything anyway." Lina muttered. "Well, whatever. If you can't help us with any information, then we can't help you, kid. Sorry, but that's the way it's got to be." She then continued her search for books. Zara stood and followed her, staying behind her back in order not to be seen. Gourry laughed- the sight of the little boy following the oblivious sorceress was almost comical. "What the heck is so funny?" Lina turned around quickly to ask.

"N-nothing…" Gourry said, attempting to keep a straight face. He knew that there would be a fireball heading straight for him if he didn't.

Lina turned to face the child that she had apparently been aware of the whole time. "And if you don't stop following me around, kid, I'll do worse things to you than those thieves could have even imagined! Got it?"

"Lina, come on. He's just a little kid, all alone. The least we could do is help him get back to his parents. It wouldn't be right just to leave him out here."

Lina scowled. "Gourry, you're starting to sound like Amelia. I'm not being a chaperone to some pathetic little kid who seems to have an even worse memory than you do!" Zara seemed to find this discouraging, and hugged tightly to Lina. "Let go of me kid! I'm NOT your mother!" But Zara didn't let go.

He looked up at Lina with big, teary eyes that caught the sorceress off guard. Before, she had easily defeated bandits who pleaded for mercy. But there was something different in seeing the pitiful look on the face of a small child. It was something Lina had never experienced before, and she stumbled with words as she tried to identify just how this kid was making her feel.

"Err, well, look kid, this is… what I mean is… you don't really…" Lina sighed, defeated. She might have been cruel, but she was still a human being and couldn't simply leave a little, helpless child out in the forest on his own. "I guess we'll take you back to the town so that you can find you parents. We have to go back to return the books anyway, so…"

The look of sheer joy in Zara's eyes nearly knocked Lina over. He hugged her even tighter. "Thank you!" He exclaimed in the loudest voice that Lina and Gourry had heard him use.

Gourry smiled at Lina. "I guess even you can be nice sometimes."

"Shut it. Just count up all the books to make sure that we have them all." Lina said. She wasn't in the mood to be nice to anybody at this particular moment, but she refrained from hitting Gourry this time.

"Let's see…" Gourry said looking at what they had found. "You found eight and I found six… so that makes… um…" Gourry began to count on his fingers, and then became confused on what to do when he ran out of fingers to count on. Lina was about to intervene and say something along the lines of '14 you idiot,' but Zara came in before she could.

"Umm… 14, right?"

Lina and Gourry stared at the boy as if he'd just spoken to them in another language.

"Yeah, of course! 14, I knew that." Gourry said. "But wait, the people at the library said they only lost 10 books. That means that we have four extras, right?"

"So you're not a complete failure at math after all." Lina said condescendingly, but then turned to Zara. "Where did you learn to add like that, kid?" She could almost call the answer out as Zara said it.

"I don't know."

Lina sighed. "I guess we'll just keep the extra books for ourselves."

"But what will we do with them?" Gourry asked. "We can't read them, so they'd be of no use to us."

"Silly Gourry," Lina said with a smile. "Did you forget? Whatever you can't use, you can SELL. And I'm sure that mysterious antique books would fetch quite a high price with some maniacal collector, correct?"

Gourry sighed. He'd known Lina way too long to not have seen that response coming.

"Well, let's get Zara and these books back to town." He said, turning in the direction that they'd come from. Zara followed closely behind him- but not before turning to make sure Lina was coming as well.

_What is up with this kid anyway? _Lina wondered.

After returning to stolen books to the grateful librarian and collecting Lina's coveted reward, the pair began a fruitless search of the town to see if anyone knew who Zara belonged to.

No one seemed to know anything about the kid, who he was, or where he had come from. Lina sighed.

"Nobody knows him. His parents are obviously not here."

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to search other places for his parents." Gourry said. Lina was dumbfounded.

"Are you crazy? Take him with us? No way! Never! We're leaving him here!" Zara's eyes began to tear up, and he hugged Lina. She turned away, so as not to be swayed by his expression again.

"Lina, what is he supposed to do? He's all alone! No one knows him!" Gourry objected.

"Who cares? It's not our problem."

"Still… I don't feel good about leaving him. We can't."

"You mean YOU can't." Lina said, sending Gourry a malevolent look. "If you want to take him home, then it's fine by me. Don't expect me to join you though." And with that she took off as if to leave.

Gourry realized what she was doing. She was making him choose between Zara and her. He knew he had to do something to change her mind- for Zara's sake. _She knows that if I have to choose, I'll end up choosing her. And she's right. _He thought. Nodding for Zara to follow, Gourry took off after her. "Lina, wait!"

Lina didn't know this, however. She was beginning to have second thoughts as she walked farther away, and was almost glad to hear Gourry calling after her. She turned to see the two running after her. Though she was somewhat relieved that they hadn't chosen to leave her, she frowned.

"I thought I said I wasn't taking him home." Lina asserted.

"What if we do find his parents? The may be so happy to see him that they'll want to reward us." Gourry knew that he had to appeal to Lina's greed.

"And what if we don't find them? Then what? Those thieves could have captured him from anywhere- the world is a pretty big place. With no information or leads about where he comes from, we could search forever, and maybe never find his parents. Then what?"

Gourry had to admit that she had a point, although he was a bit more focused on the fact that she had just used the words 'we' and 'forever' in the same sentence, however hypothetical it had been.

"But…" was the only comeback he could think of at this point.

"Lina…a-are you going to leave without me?" Zara asked timidly.

"Why on earth would I take you with me?" Lina asked. Zara didn't respond. He obviously didn't have an answer other than 'I don't know.' With a decisive gesture, Lina turned and continued on. She was tempted to look back a few times, but knew that if she did, she would regret it.

_Why should I care about those two anyway? _She thought as she continued blindly though the forest. It wasn't a question that she expected to have answered, but for some reason, she answered it anyway. _Because Gourry is well-meaning, but too stupid to get them anywhere… and that kid is smarter, but still too young to really do anything… heck, they wouldn't even know how to get back to the town without my help, much less get Zara back to his home…it's getting late, maybe I should go back… _Lina turned around, but the two people were no longer behind her.

Lina stopped and blinked a few times, as if she thought that they might reappear, but she had walked far enough that she couldn't see them anymore. _Heh, I don't care at all. _She told herself. _Just let those two go off and get themselves killed! See if I care! _

Her mental rant was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind her. "What do you want now?" She asked, expecting- and almost hoping- to hear Gourry or Zara's voice in response.

"Alright Miss Bandit-slayer, first we want those books back, then we want to know what you did with the boy."

Lina turned around quickly to see a small group of the bandits from earlier.

"You guys again?" She asked angrily. "I thought I gave you guys enough of a beating earlier to drive you away! I see I'm going to have to inflict more pain this time, huh?"

A few of the weaker-looking bandits began to back away, but the stronger ones came forward, ready to fight.

"We're prepared this time. You won't escape us."

"Oh really?" Lina said with a smile. She hadn't realized how frustrated she had been, and it always calmed her nerves to destroy a few thieves on occasion. "FIREBALL!"

Lina shot a barrage of fireballs at the men, but the easily dodged with a confidence they hadn't had that morning. She wasn't sure what it was, but Lina could sense a difference in the way they acted. It seemed that they were much more determined to take back what wasn't rightfully theirs.

Lina was strong, but unfortunately outnumbered. The thieves fired powerful, dark attacks from all directions, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't dodge them all. Hit with a particularly powerful shadow attack, Lina flew back against a tree and fell to the ground.

Picking herself up, she winced as she clutched her injured arm. Lina definitely wasn't one to give up easily, and fired a Flare Arrow in the direction of the group. Attacks flew back and forth, Lina taking most of the hits. One time after another, Lina picked herself up, but she was weakening fast and the bandits could sense it. Finally, the leader from earlier used an attack Lina wasn't familiar with. She felt herself tense up.

_I- I can't move! _She panicked. It was as if she had been bound by magic and remained rooted to the spot. The leader of the bandits approached her, drawing a sword.

"Now you'll know better than to mess with us." He said with a malicious smile. Lina closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do. The bandit raised his sword, ready to strike. And then in one swift movement-

_Klink!_

Lina's eyes flew open at the familiar sound of two swords clashing together. For a moment, she thought she was mistaken.

"Gourry!"

"Hey Lina, need some help?" The swordsman turned to her smiling. Lina smiled back, and was suddenly embraced by the little child she had been yelling at just earlier. Perhaps it was because she was still paralyzed, but she didn't attempt to separate herself from Zara's protective grasp. The two couldn't have picked a better time to show up.

"Alright, if any one of you bandits tries to hurt Lina now, I'll slice you in half with this sword! Got it?"

The confidence of the thieves seemed to deflate somewhat. Gourry hadn't been as threatening in the previous battle. Only the leader was brave enough to stand up to him.

"If you think simply having a sword will make you intimidating, then you have a long way to go, young man."

"I'm not afraid of you." Gourry challenged.

Lina- no longer immobilized but still weak- watched as the two fought, their swords clashing. The leader of the bandits was strong and had experience, but Gourry was young and just as talented, if not more so. The leader attempted to defend himself, but he simply couldn't stand up to Gourry's superior strength and technique. Gourry could hear commotion around him, but was focused on the battle at hand. He wondered why the leader kept fighting when it was obvious that he was losing.

_He can't possible believe that he's going to win... unless he's just trying to buy time..._Gourry suddenly realized the leader's plan. He turned around quickly.

"Lina!"

_Boom!_

It was already too late. While the leader had been distracting Gourry, the rest of the bandits had been preparing to attack Lina. The swordsman had turned around just in time to see the explosion that overcame the area where Lina and Zara had just been standing.

"LINA!"

As the smoke cleared, Lina opened her eyes- also expecting the worst. But she found that beyond her previous injuries, she and Zara were practically untouched. She then noticed why. A thin, red shield of magic has surrounded them and protected them from the blast. But, how?

_I've never done any spell like this, and Gourry certainly can't. Whose spell is this? _Lina puzzled. She then turned her gaze to her small companion. With his arms still around her, Zara's eyes had taken on a distant gaze and a red glow similar to that of the magic shield.

_Z-Zara? He can use magic? No way..._

Lina turned to the thieves who were staring in disbelief. "Now then..." She said angrily. "Let's show you how a real magic spell is done."

The thieves began to panic as Lina recited the incantation, but she was too fast to let them get away.

"_DRAGON SLAVE!"_

The bandits had been either obliterated, or chased completely away by Lina's spell, but it didn't matter to her as long as they were gone. Gourry had initially rushed to her side, but Lina asserted that she was all right, and that there was nothing wrong that a few healing spells couldn't handle. She knew that Gourry wasn't satisfied with that, but at the risk of having another Dragon Slave aimed at him, he left her alone, and made sure that Zara was unharmed.

"Did you see what Zara did?" Lina asked Gourry.

"What?"

"The magical shield!"

"That wasn't you?"

Lina sighed. "Gourry, I don't know any spells like that."

"Oh, I didn't remember you using any spells like that before, but you know how reliable my memory is."

Lina laughed. "Don't I ever." She turned her attention to Zara now. "How long have you been able to use magic?"

"I don't know."

Lina should have been able to answer that one for him. "Don't get me wrong," she continued, "but it seems like that shield back there was just a fluke. I mean, you weren't quite sure what you were doing. Beginner's luck, correct?"

Zara nodded.

"What you really need is somebody to teach you the basics. Help you get started. That way you can use more powerful spells like the one I just used, see?"

Gourry seemed pleased at Lina's sudden interest in the boy, but also confused. "But Lina, who'll teach him all that stuff?"

Lina smiled. "I will. At least while we're trying to find his parents."

"Then, you mean... he can..."

"He can travel with us for a while, but ONLY until we can find his parents."

"Lina!" Gourry exclaimed happily. He resisted an urge to hug her, knowing that it would only result in him getting hit over the head, or shot with a fireball.

Lina turned to Zara with a serious expression. "But don't you dare even begin to think that I'm letting you come along because I care about you, or that I even like you. I'm only doing this so that you can learn magic and be of use to us in the future. Got it?"

Zara got it, and he didn't care.

"Thank you, Lina!" He said hugging her.

Lina just sneered. "I'm not your mother, kid. Now get off me."

And with that, she continued on with Gourry and Zara following close behind.

-Wow, I never realized that the chapters would be that long, but they're fun to write! I'll probably update with more than one chapter at a time, but this is just a little place for author commentary and teasers. Speaking of which, in the next chapter Lina's going to find out just how hard it's going to be to train Zara! Don't fear though. They're going to get a little help from everyone's favourite justice-loving princess! R&R! :3-


	2. 2: Fire! Magic is conditional!

-*Deep breath* Second chapter! Hope you are enjoying this. I tried to put at least a little humour into it. My brother is actually much better at writing funny scenes than I am. Maybe I should ask him for some pointers... But whatever! :3-

**2- Fire! Magic is conditional!**

"Now Zara, you have to channel all of your energy into this. Remember to focus yourself on the spell, alright? Now try just _one _more time."

Zara nodded at his new instructor, and put his hands out in front of him, the way he had been shown.

"Firrrrre...BALL!"

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

Again.

"RRRRGH, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Lina shouted. "How can it possibly be so hard to create a little fireball? You created an entire magical shield just two days ago!"

Zara was just as frustrated as Lina was. He was obviously doing something wrong, but couldn't figure out just what it was.

"I-I... I'm sorry Lina... what am I doing wrong?" Zara asked tentatively.

"OH, IF ONLY I KNEW!" Lina exclaimed. "But unfortunately, you seem to have no ability to conjure up magical spells on your own. If only I knew how to teach you..." Lina sighed and collapsed. After 5 hours of unsuccessful training, she was completely worn out.

Gourry put his hand on her shoulder. "Just hang in there, okay?"

He got a punch in the face. Lina wasn't in the mood to be comforted at the moment.

"Well, it won't be long until we're in Seyruun," Lina began. "So what do you say we give our friendly prince and princess a visit. Perhaps they could help us with Zara's problem, and figure out how to get him back home."

Gourry smiled, having made a fantastic recovery from Lina's attack. "That's a good idea! Prince Phil and Amelia will definitely know what to do!"

Zara looked confused. "Who?"

"Prince Philionel and Princess Amelia. They're friends of ours that live in Seyruun. They're really nice." Gourry explained.

"And kind of crazy if you ask me." Lina added. "But at least you remembered their names."

Zara ignored Lina's comment. "I like friends!" He said with a smile.

Gourry smiled back. "I think everyone likes friends." He replied.

"Not me." Lina objected coolly.

"Aww Lina, you don't really mean that."

"Aww Gourry, I really do."

"So you mean you don't like me? Or Amelia or Prince Phil? What about... what were their names again... Zelgadis and Pokota? Xellos maybe?"

"Nope. No, heck no, no again, no a fifth time, and are you kidding me?"

"Do...do you like me?" Zara asked.

"Zara, if I don't like any of these people that I've been forced to associate with for all this time, what makes you think that I'd have any feelings for some little kid I'd just me?"

Zara seemed a bit discouraged. Gourry was not convinced.

"What do you mean, 'forced'?" He asked. "What about when you were following me around, begging for the Sword of Light? That wasn't forced."

"Um, excuse me? You were the one who wouldn't give it to me. I was _forced_ to follow you in order to obtain it... and a lot of good that did me..."

"Well, now I don't have the Sword of Light anymore, so why are you still following me?"

Lina was caught off guard with that question. She hadn't expected Gourry to hit on that point, and wasn't exactly sure how to respond.

What could she say? _'When you have as many enemies as I do, it's nice to have someone watching your back on occasion...' _'_Despite that fact that you have a jellyfish-brain, you're actually kind of fun to be around...' 'Even if I don't necessarily _like _you, I might actually lo-'_

"I'm not following you. If anything, YOU'RE the one following ME." Lina recovered.

Gourry sighed. He knew that he couldn't win an argument with Lina, no matter how right he might be.

"Whatever. I guess you won't mind if I follow you to Seyruun then?"

"I guess I'll allow that." Lina replied.

Zara was captivated by the sights of the city. All of the people and buildings were fascinating to him. It was as if he had never been in a big city before- which, considering his erased memory, was actually pretty much true. It was quite hard for a small child to observe all the happenings of a busy town from his height, so he had been offered a better vantage point from atop Gourry's shoulders.

"Would you stop carrying him around like that?" Lina asked, irritated.

"What? He likes being able to see everything." Gourry defended.

Lina was more concerned about people who would see them. After all, if someone saw a couple walking together carrying a small child, it wasn't hard to imagine the, eh, relationship between them.

"I'm afraid that we might look like some sort of..." Lina stumbled on how to phrase it. "...family or something."

"So?"

Gourry's unconcerned response angered Lina. How could he possibly not care?

"Well... then I'm walking ahead of you. See you at the palace." Lina sped up and left Gourry and Zara behind.

"Aww, come on Lina! Wait up!"

Getting into the palace was no problem. Besides being personal friends of the royal family, Lina and Gourry had actually helped to save the country on a few occasions. They were obviously welcome.

"Prince Philionel and Princess Amelia have been informed that they have guests. You should find the Prince in his study. The princess will join you shortly." One of the guards informed them.

Lina and Gourry thanked him and started out to meet Prince Phil.

Zara was captivated by the enormity of the building. "It's so... so..." He stumbled to find a word in his limited 3-year-old vocabulary to describe the place. "...cool!" he settled.

"I guess you could say that." Lina replied nonchalantly. "I've seen places bigger."

Zara tried to keep up with the fast pace of his companions, but, every time he saw something that captured his interest, he would stop for a moment to admire it. And thus, he got progressively farther and farther behind.

Zara stood under a large painting of a man dressed in elegant, royal clothing- no doubt a king of Seyruun at one time or another. "Hey Lina, do you know who this is- huh?"

Zara turned around to where he was certain Lina and Gourry should have been- they hadn't been _that_ far ahead of him, had they? "Wh-where'd everybody go? Hello?"

Zara ran ahead to catch up, but was met with diverging hallways. Which one had they taken? The vastness of the place, which had seemed awe-inspiring just a few minutes ago, was now terrifying to the lost little child. Panicking, he chose one hallway at random and began running.

"*sniff*...D-don't leave me behind...please..."

In the Prince's study, Lina and Gourry were met with a pleased welcome.

"It's been much too long since we've seen each other! Amelia's been talking about you lately- how nice that you'd drop by!" Prince Phil enthused.

"Thanks a lot. Listen Phil, we have a favour we'd like to ask." Lina said, cutting to the chase- impatient for all of the greetings.

"Let me introduce you." Said Gourry turning around. "This is- huh?"

In the spot where Zara should have been standing, there was obviously no Zara.

Gourry began to panic. "Wh-where'd he go? He was right here just a second ago! Lina, weren't you watching him?"

"YOU were the one who insisted on carrying him around- I thought you were keeping an eye on him!"

"I was! But all of a sudden he's not here! He couldn't have gone _that _far could he? We've got to find him!"

Lina was unhappy with the idea of searching the castle for the boy. "No way am I going around looking for him. He'll probably find his way back anyway, so don't worry about it."

"But Lina, he might be lost!"

"So?"

"And _scared._"

Lina didn't know how to respond to that. Prince Phil was staring at them, utterly confused at the situation. To him they sounded like parents arguing over a lost child.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, just _who _are you looking for?"

Gourry turned back to Phil, hoping that the prince could help them. "Well, he's a little boy, about three years old... his name is Zara... he's got brown hair and green eyes... uh, he really likes people, but he's afraid of being alone..."

Prince Phil nodded. "And this boy- sorry, Zara- who is he exactly?" Phil knew the boy couldn't be their son; they hadn't been away for quite _that _long.

"Just some kid we rescued from a group of bandits." Lina replied, as if recuing children from the clutches of evil was something that happened on a regular basis. "We're just trying to get him back to his parents so that we don't have to bother with him anymore- that's why we came here. We were hoping you help us get him back home."

Phil's eyes sparkled. "How heroic! Rescuing a helpless child from the clutches of evil! You really are allies of justice!"

"I wouldn't say _helpless_..." mumbled Lina, remembering that Zara had saved her life just a few days ago.

"But we have to find him!" Gourry repeated. "He's got to be around here somewhere!"

_Guests? I wasn't expecting anyone to visit today... I wonder who it could be. _Princess Amelia thought to herself as she made her way to her father's study. It was unusual to have guest arrive out of the blue like this. As she walked casually down the hallway, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps. They were muffled sounding and she assumed that this meant the person was still a good distance away from her. She got a surprise when she turned a corner and ran directly into a little boy.

_Smack!_

Zara and Amelia both fell back from the impact.

"I-I'm sorry, miss... I..." It was more than the already panicked child could bear. He began to sob, much to Amelia's concern.

"H-hey now! Don't cry! It was my fault for not paying attention to where I was going! It's okay, really! You're not hurt! Come on now!" Amelia tried in vain to console the child. Since her reassurances seemed to be having no effect, she tried a different approach. "Are you alone? What's your name?" She asked politely, hoping that conversation would take the boy's mind off the collision.

"My... *sniff*... name's Zara..." He said, his crying beginning to subside.

"Okay, Zara." Replied Amelia, relieved to at least have a name to call the boy. "Zara, did you get separated from your parents?"

"My parents?" He questioned.

"Your parents. The people who care for you. Did you lose them?" Amelia asked.

The people that cared for him... the only people of that description that came to Zara's mind were Lina and Gourry. And he had, in fact, gotten separated from them. So, as he figured that the answer to this question must be 'yes,' he replied.

"Yeah... I guess I did..."

Seeing that Zara was much calmer now than before, Amelia stood up and helped him up as well. "Well, I'll help you get back to your parents. Where did you last see them?"

"That way." Zara pointed in the direction from which he had come.

"Then why are you going this way?" Asked Amelia.

"'Cause that's the way they went... I think..."

"Oh, so you accidentally got left behind?"

Zara nodded dejectedly and began to tear up again.

"D-d-don't cry! Please! I'm going to take you to my dad! He'll definitely know what to do! Okay? Okay!"

Amelia and Zara finally reached Prince Phil's study, and could hear raised voices inside.

"What do you idiots expect me to do, go out and search the whole castle for him?"

"Well, we can't just sit and do nothing!"

"Why not?"

Amelia knew the voices sounded familiar. "That's..." she began, entering the room. Lina, Gourry, and Phil all looked up to see her.

"Miss Lina? Mister Gourry?"

"Lina! Gourry!" The Princess and little boy called nearly at the same time.

"Amelia!" Lina exclaimed. "A-and she found Zara!"

"Zara, you're safe! Where in the world did you go?" Gourry asked. He bent down to the little boy who was quick to throw himself into the swordsman's open arms.

"I got lost... couldn't find you..." Zara stammered. Having reunited himself with Gourry, he turned to Lina and threw his arms around her. He was not met with such a welcoming gesture as he had expected.

_THWAK!_

"You little idiot! What on earth did you think you were doing getting yourself lost around here! You need to learn to pay better attention to your surroundings, or you'll end up getting captured by a bunch of bandits again! And don't you dare expect me to bail you out next time!"

Zara rubbed his head where Lina had thwacked it. He didn't respond, thinking that if he said anything else, Lina might get even more angry.

Amelia stared in disbelief. She had been touched, though slightly confused to see Zara reunited with Gourry, and then became concerned when Lina started to reprimand the boy. "Miss Lina? Mister Gourry? You're... Zara's parents?"

_THWAK! _

Lina was already ticked off at Zara for causing them all this trouble, and Amelia's incorrect assumption succeeded in throwing her over the edge. "ARE YOU INSANE? How could you possibly be that mistaken! Do you WANT me to Dragon Slave you in your own palace? Because I will! That's no threat- it's a promise! YOU HEAR ME?"

Gourry had to grab Lina and restrain her from causing the princess any serious harm.

"Come on Lina, it was an honest mistake. She didn't know any better."

Amelia was a afraid of making Lina any angrier. "I-I'm sorry Miss Lina! Zara told me that he got separated from his parents... and well... he certainly seemed happy to see you and Mister Gourry... so I just assumed..."

This seemed just to feed Lina's anger, but this time it wasn't directed at Amelia. Lina turned to Zara. "You told her WHAT?"

"Um... that I lost you..." Zara said shrinking back. "I-is that bad...?"

Lina was quiet. She closed her eyes and smiled one of her malicious smiles- which was never a good sign.

"Oh Zara," she began in a kind, but stern voice. "Haven't I told you- not just once, but several times- that I am not, have not ever been, nor will ever be anything even remotely similar to your mother. Do you understand? Or do I have to physically drive this thought into that thick skull of yours?"

Zara backed away a bit more. He hadn't really understood all of what she had said, but he did understand that behind this false composure that she seemed to have gathered, there was a seething vehemence that she was subtly but effectively directing at him.

"I... I..." Zara tried in vain to find some way to respond the Lina's question.

Sensing that there was a disaster waiting to happen, (and not wanting this to happen in his study of all places,) Prince Phil stepped between them with a statement that he hoped would distract Lina from her fury.

"Miss Lina, it would seem that everything has worked out for the better- after all you have found Zara. Now I think it would be best to discuss these matters further over lunch. Would you be so kind as to join us for something to eat?"

Amelia and Gourry knew what Phil was trying to do. They waited tensely to see what kind of answer Lina would give. Lina looked straight at Phil.

"Well it's about time we got something to eat. I'm starving! Come on you guys!"

There was an audible sigh of relief from Lina's companions as she headed at full speed toward the kitchen.

"Oh I see. So that's how you guys ended up with Zara-chan." Amelia said after hearing the whole story (and adding her standard honorifics to the names of her new friend who was a bit too young to be referred to as a 'mister.')

"Yeah," Lina said between bites of food. "And he's been nothing but a pain in the neck ever since we found him."

Gourry frowned, putting aside his own food for a moment. "But Lina, what would have happened back when you were fighting those bandits if he hadn't been there to help you?"

Lina almost wished that he'd said that condescendingly, to give her a better reason to get mad at him for bringing it up. But there was nothing but heartfelt concern in his voice. Of course, this only made Lina angrier than she would have been had Gourry been ridiculing her. He really didn't have to _care _so much.

"Forgetting that ONE little incident I mean." Lina replied. Gourry nodded, glad that she had acknowledged him as being right for once.

"It sounds like Zara-chan is actually pretty strong." Amelia commented. "Not to mention really smart. Have you noticed that his vocabulary is quite proficient for a child his age?"

Lina, who was obviously not familiar with the development of language skills in children, acknowledged that she hadn't really paid all that much attention to it. "But we did notice that he could add numbers even better than Gourry could. And believe me, Gourry's not _that _stupid."

"Thank you." Gourry said, taking it as a compliment.

"Still, I think it's great that you guys are trying to get him back to his parents. I kind of wish that I could come with you to help out." Amelia said almost sadly.

"You can come with us if you want, Amelia." Lina replied. Even though she found Amelia's cheerfulness a bit annoying, the princess was good company and a strong ally.

"I'm sorry Miss Lina, but I have duties here in Seyruun that need to be attended to... and since you're not sure exactly where Zara-chan comes from, that would mean that I'd be away for an indefinite period of time. This wouldn't exactly be the best thing for my country right now."

"Oh, I see." Lina said. She was amazed and a little irritated at how princesses and princes often let the politics of their position come before their own personal aspirations. Lina was reminded of Pokota, who was satisfied with remaining in the body of a stuffed animal as long as he could save his country. In that respect, Pokota and Amelia were very similar. And, as frustrating as it seemed to their friends, Taforashia and Seyruun were lucky to have them.

While the three friends were talking, a servant of the royal family came up to them holding an envelope. "Ah, Princess Amelia." The woman said. "You received a letter."

Amelia seemed overjoyed. "Thank you so much for bringing it to me!" She exclaimed gratefully, taking the envelope in her hands.

"Of course." The woman replied, smiling. "This is the first one in four days, isn't it? Could it be that he is getting tired of writing you so often?"

"Of course not!" Amelia said defensively, already beginning to read the letter. "It just means that nothing of much interest has happened lately. See? He said so here."

"Who said so?" Lina asked, trying to get a good look at the letter. She had seen the envelope- it had not had a return address, and was quite lacking in formalities. The envelope was simply addressed to 'Amelia.'

"Mister Zelgadis of course." Amelia replied. "He writes quite often, though he hasn't had all that much to write about lately. But he has kept in touch, which is more than I can say for some of my _other friends_." Amelia said, throwing an accusing look at Lina and Gourry.

"Hey! We'd have written you, it's just that we've been really busy with all the bandit-hunting that's been going on, that we forgot to! And anyway, even if we did write you, you couldn't write back because you wouldn't know where to send it." Lina defended. Gourry simply nodded in agreement.

"Sorry Miss Lina, I was kidding, of course. But that is the same problem with Mister Zelgadis. I have no idea where he'll be travelling to next, so I can't write him back. It makes me sad sometimes... but I still read all of his letters! Even when he doesn't have much to say, he still puts his heart into writing them to me, so..." Amelia hadn't realized until now that she was blushing, but she found that Lina and Gourry hadn't noticed either.

"Zel has a heart? That's a new one on me." Lina said casually.

"MISS LINA! That's so cruel!" Exclaimed Amelia, quick to come to the chimera's defence.

"Just kidding! ...kind of..." Lina replied.

"Kind of?" Gourry asked.

"Anyway, that's another reason for me to stay. Since I can't write Mister Zelgadis, there would be no way to let him know that I'm leaving the castle and will be unable to read his letters..." Amelia said.

"Oh, that makes sense too." Gourry said.

"Not to me." Said Lina. "If he doesn't hear back from you, then there's no way to tell whether you're actually reading his letters at all. In that case, you could leave and he'd just assume that you were still getting his letters."

"Miss Lina, that'd be impolite!"

Lina sighed, and remembered that she was talking to the princess who believed herself to be the embodiment of justice. Amelia wouldn't let Zel believe something that was not true, and Lina also got the feeling that Amelia enjoyed getting his letters anyway. She would miss them if she left.

"Alright then, I guess we can't convince you to come with us. But thanks anyway for helping us out some. Who knows how long it would have taken us to find him in this huge palace if you hadn't shown up."

Amelia smiled. "Hey, no problem. I'm glad to help you guys out any time you need me."

Lina's statement assured Amelia that Lina would have gone out after Zara had she not run into him in the hallway. Amelia had a feeling that, deep down, Lina had a soft spot for the little boy that she was denying. After all, her outburst at Zara-chan earlier had seemed to stem from some sort of worry that Lina had. Was Lina really worried about him?

Amelia wouldn't ask Lina, knowing that she would only get incredibly angry again. Even if she had wanted to, the three friends were suddenly interrupted by Prince Phil and Zara (who had been taken on a small tour of the palace by the crown prince himself.)

"Hey there Phil, what's up?" Lina asked, still munching on the last of her lunch.

"You have to come quickly!" He said, a look of worry on his face. "Something has happened in the city!"

Lina and her friends hurried out of the palace on their way to the city, which had apparently been attacked by some strange monster. "It always has to be monsters, doesn't it?" Lina said with a twinge of sarcasm in her voice.

"Wha-what's gonna happen?" Zara asked anxiously, gasping for breath as he tried to keep up with the fast pace of his companions. He didn't want to get left behind again, certainly not when there was a monster on the loose.

"Well, we're going to fight that monster, destroy it, and save the city. It's pretty simple really." Lina replied. She had lots of experience destroying monsters and was very sure of her own abilities.

"Okay." Zara said, satisfied with Lina's answer. Though he obviously had no reason to, he trusted the sorceress completely. If she said something, he earnestly believed it, no questions asked.

The monster that was attacking the city was very powerful- a dark, formless figure with few recognizable features and even less apparent intelligence. It moved blindly through buildings, knocking down anything in its path. There was already a identifiable path of destruction when Lina and her friends arrived.

"We have to stop it from destroying any more of our city!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Just stand back. I'll incinerate it with a few Fireballs. That thing'll never know what hit it." Lina said, stepping out in front of the creature. "Now, prepare to meet your end, you strange monster! FIREBALL!"

Lina's Fireball was a particularly powerful one. It blew directly through the centre of the monster, creating a gaping hole.

"Alright! You did it!" Gourry exclaimed.

Slowly, the darkness around the edges of the monster began to creep back in, until the bizarre creature had regenerated the entire area that Lina had destroyed.

"...or not." Gourry corrected sadly.

"How is that even possible?" Lina cried. "That's not fair! It's cheating! It can't just do that! Come on!"

"Miss Lina, you're acting like a little kid!" Amelia tried to bring Lina out of her little tantrum.

Lina's anger had flared up again, and she wasn't going to let this monster get off the hook so easily. "So you want to play rough, do you? Alright then, so be it.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."_

Unfortunately, Lina was stopped mid-Dragon Slave by Amelia and Gourry. She struggled to get out of her friends' strong grip.

"Miss Lina, you can't do that! You'll destroy the town along with the monster!"

"And this should concern me why?" Lina asked.

"Lina!" Gourry had seen Lina destroy too many towns to know the consequences of such actions. And if Lina destroyed Amelia's hometown... it's safe to assume that the justice-loving princess wouldn't let her forget it.

"There's got to be some other way to destroy that thing without hurting the people of Seyruun!" Amelia exclaimed. She pulled out her iconic Hammer of Justice. "Now you'll learn that it's very unwise to mess with the people of Seyruun! JUSTICE HAMMER!"

Amelia leaped into the centre of the monster, striking it directly. As she fell into the gaping darkness of the monster, the light of her weapon was engulfed. The shadows began to surround Amelia too, and she screamed at the unexpected attack.

"Amelia!" Zara yelled, seeing his new friend suddenly being swallowed up by the enormous, dark creature.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out!" Gourry shouted, pulling out his sword and rushing toward the monster.

"Gourry, wait! You don't know what the monster is going to do- Gourry!" Lina called out behind her reckless companion. But she wasn't fast enough. As Gourry struck against the creature, his sword was surrounded by the darkness, and it seemed to be pulling it out of his grip. The experienced swordsman wasn't about to let some creature steal his trusty weapon, and gripped harder. The shadowy monster was like quicksand, tugging at the sword. Gourry refused to let go until finally...

"Let go of the sword you idiot!"Lina grabbed Gourry and pulled him away as the rest of the weapon was consumed by the darkness.

Gourry was exasperated. He'd been using that particular sword for quite a while now, and it hadn't come close to breaking...yet. "Lina! Why'd you let the monster get my sword?" He exclaimed.

"I didn't want the monster to get _you!_" Lina yelled, equally infuriated. The _one _time she decides to do something nice for him... and he takes offense to it!

Gourry suddenly realized that Lina had only been looking out for his safety. "I-I'm sorry Lina. I just..."

"No time for apologies jellyfish-brain! If we want to rescue Amelia- not to mention your sword- we've got to do something NOW!"

Gourry nodded, hoping that Lina would accept an apology later. After all, rescuing Amelia should be their first priority. "So, what do you need me to do?" he asked, letting Lina take lead of the situation.

"Protect Zara." Lina said. "I'm going to see if there's anything that can be done about this monster. It's got to have _some _weakness, right?"

"Right." Gourry responded. He picked up Zara, and held the boy protectively. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He said.

"What about Lina?" asked Zara anxiously.

The little boy had read Gourry's thoughts exactly. "I won't let anything happen to her either. You can count on that."

Lina approached the monster with a serious expression on her face. She was done fooling around. Had the monster had more sense, it would have known that this particular expression on the face of this particular human meant death to anyone it was directed at. Of course, this _was _Lina Inverse we were dealing with, so the monster had been doomed from the moment it crossed her path. But, unfortunately for the monster, it had no idea who it was dealing with, and didn't care either. It simply saw another human standing in its path, and instinctively made a motion to engulf this one along with all the others.

"FLARE ARROW!"

Lina's attack flew through the air, piercing multiple holes through the dark creature. But each hole was small, and easily repaired by the blackness. Lina clenched her teeth. "So multiple hits are not going to work on you, eh? Well then, how about this? FIREBALL!"

The enormous Fireball, even more powerful than the first, flew toward the monster. It hit with a destructive force, but it still wasn't quite enough. The monster regenerated the hit area, coming back just as strong as before. Lina was beginning to run out of ideas.

_I can't just Dragon Slave that thing, it'd destroy the town in the process! And I can't weaken it with multiple small attacks or one big attack. What in the world am I going to do now?_

The destruction of the monster was certainly within Lina's capabilities, but it was not without risks. Lina was having a hard time sorting these out, and the monster saw its chance. It lunged forward with a sudden speed and caught the sorceress by surprise. She writhed in an attempt to free herself from the monster's shadowy grip, but the darkness surrounding her was a formidable force.

"Lina!" Gourry yelled, placing Zara on the ground and rushing to Lina's side.

"Gourry, watch out or you'll also get-"

But the darkness had already begun to surround the swordsman as well. Lina was now out of ideas, and time was ticking on them. The only thing she could think of to free them was a last resort Dragon Slave- if only she could free her hands!

Zara watched in dismay as the two people who he had come to care for and trust were being actively consumed by a dark force. Somewhere in his subconscious, he could hear Lina's words repeated to him.

"_Now Zara, you have to channel all of your energy into this. Remember to focus yourself on the spell, alright?"_

_Focus._

Focus.

"**FIRE...BALL!**"

Zara wasn't thinking about his previous failures with magical spells. He wasn't thinking about technique, or strategy, or any of the other information that Lina had taught him. All that occupied his mind was the thought that the two people he cared about most in the entire world were in imminent danger. They were all that he had. He couldn't lose them.

The incredible, potent Fireball created by the child seared into the monster with an explosion. There was a flash of light, darkness, and then...

_Klink!_

Gourry's sword fell with a clatter a few feet away from where Amelia had rematerialized, filling the void where the monster had just been. Lina and Gourry stared in disbelief as the darkness around them dissipated.

Lina blinked, not quite believing what had just happened. "Did Zara just..."

"Lina! Gourry! Amelia!" Zara cried, greatly relieved. As Amelia was closest, she was the first to rush to his side.

"Zara-chan! Are you okay? What happened? Did Miss Lina destroy that thing?"

Zara was a bit intimidated by this barrage of questions. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened himself. "Uh... I don't really know..."

Lina and Gourry rushed up to Zara. "Zara! How did you do that?" Lina exclaimed.

"I don't know... you guys were in trouble, so..." Zara's voice trailed off.

"It sounds like Zara-chan was just trying to rescue you guys." Amelia said.

"Rescue us?" Gourry asked. After all, he was the one who was supposed to be looking out for Zara.

"He might have been trying to save us, but he ended up saving the city. The only things left for me to do at that point were either get sucked up by that monster... or Dragon Slave the whole place." Lina said. "But more importantly Zara, you actually used the spell I taught you! Did you finally get the hang of it?"

"Um..." Zara stammered, and then raised his hand. Focusing all of his energy into it, he attempted the spell once more. "Fireball!"

Nothing happened.

The four people stood for a few moments of silence.

"Whaat? You mean you can't use the spell anymore? But you just destroyed that giant monster! What gives?" Lina was beginning to get angry again.

"Perhaps Zara-chan can't use magic unless he's in a tight situation." Amelia suggested.

Lina and Gourry hadn't thought of that possibility, but it suddenly made sense. Zara had only been able to use his magic when they were being attacked by the thieves, and again when a monster was going to destroy the city and engulf them all.

"That makes sense...kind of..." Gourry said thoughtfully.

"If it makes sense even to Gourry, then there must be something to it." Lina replied. "Well, come on kid. We have a lot of work to do. Trying to learn how to use magic anytime won't be easy, but it'll be useful."

Zara smiled, and followed happily behind Lina. The prospect of having more magical lessons, meaning more time with Lina, made the boy very happy.

Amelia watched in amusement. "Mister Gourry, it looks like you've got some competition for Miss Lina's affection." She remarked playfully.

Gourry laughed. "What affection? This is Lina Inverse we're talking about."

Amelia laughed in response. "Yes, but Zara-chan really does seem to like her."

"Yeah, he takes a real liking to everyone he meets, but there's something different about Lina." Gourry replied, nodding in agreement.

"Hey! Are you guys coming or not?" Lina called back to them.

"We're coming Miss Lina!" Replied Amelia.

"Well get a move on! It's almost dinner time! I want some food!"

Amelia and Gourry followed Lina back. "Didn't we just eat lunch?" Amelia asked.

"Well, that was several hours ago. There was a big monster fight in between too." Gourry reasoned. "Plus you know Lina."

Amelia smiled. "Yep, I sure do."

-"Zara-chan?" Oh Amelia, you never change... Anyway, she's obviously not going to accompany them in the next chapter, but you can be counting on your fingers the chapters until she makes another appearance. Amelia's just too much fun to leave out! Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Zelgadis either! Anyway, in chapter 3, Lina and Gourry hear a rumour about a legendary lake beast that can answer any question. Maybe this is their chance to find out where Zara comes from! But finding a beast such as this is no easy task...R&R! :3-


	3. 3: Questions! The mysterious lake beast!

-You've seriously read all the way to chapter 3? Really? If you _are _reading this, it makes me very happy! I hope you have sincerely enjoyed this. Remember, this is a first for me. I hope everyone seems to be staying in character pretty well... :3-

**3- Questions! The mysterious lake beast! **

"Fireball!" Zara yelled.

A few assorted sparks flew through the air. One decided to land in Lina's hair, and was quickly extinguished by her fingers. "Well, at least we seem to be making _some _progress." She murmured.

"Am I doing better?" Zara asked hopefully.

"Totally! You've really improved. I'm impressed." Gourry said, giving Zara a thumbs up.

Lina whacked Gourry over the head. "That's not for you to say, idiot. He's _my _apprentice, isn't he?"

"Oh, so he's your _apprentice _now?" Asked Gourry, surprised by Lina's choice of words.

Lina paused for a moment, realizing what she had said. An apprentice usually meant a long-term student. Lina didn't want to mess with Zara any longer than was necessary.

"I just meant that _I'm _the one teaching him, not you. So save your comments, alright?"

Gourry nodded obediently, still clutching the bump on his head. Lina sure could hit hard...

The three sat, finishing lunch at a small restaurant. No one in the town had ever heard of Zara, or had any idea who he was, much to Lina's irritation.

"Geez, you think at least _somebody _would know who this kid is." Lina grumbled between mouthfuls of food. "At this rate we'll never find his parents... Hey kid, are you going to eat that? You've been staring at it for the past half-hour!" Lina motioned to Zara's plate of food, of which he had eaten very little. Zara seemed to have a small appetite, even for a three-year-old.

"No." He replied, moving his plate toward Lina. The sorceress grabbed the plate, and practically inhaled its contents.

"Hey, I wanted some of that!" Gourry complained.

"You snooze, you lose, Gourry." Lina replied.

Gourry sighed. At least she'd called him by his name instead of 'idiot' or 'jellyfish-brain.' Perhaps her mood was improving.

The group finished their lunch and left the restaurant to continue on their quest.

"I just wish I knew where to search next..." Lina said.

"You need answers?" A familiar, playful voice behind them asked.

Lina and her friends spun around quickly.

"What I need is none of your business! What exactly are you doing here anyway?" Lina replied angrily.

Xellos' smile didn't waver. "I'm sorry, I simply wanted to help you travellers out. You see, there's an old legend around these parts about a wise lake beast who can answer any question... if the asker is strong enough that is."

Lina turned back to the monster. "Strong enough, eh?" She asked. Xellos' statement had piqued her interest. "Where exactly can we find this thing?"

Xellos' grin widened, happy that he had captured their attention. "There is a lake, not too far from here, to the east. There are lots of legends surrounding that lake, some of which are conflicting, but nevertheless, it may be a good idea for you to try. You don't seem to be afraid of much."

"Lina Inverse has no fear." Lina said, gesturing proudly at herself.

Xellos laughed. "No fear huh? Well you haven't changed a bit since I last saw you."

"Neither have you." Lina said, irritated. "Where'd you hear about this mysterious lake anyway?"

"That's a secret."

Lina sighed. There was no point in arguing. He had, after all, provided them with information that could possibly help them in their quest to find Zara's parents. And if he was lying? Well, they wouldn't be any worse off than they were now...

Lina noticed that Zara seemed to be hiding behind her. "What are you doing now?" She asked.

Zara didn't respond to her. Instead he directed his question at Xellos. "Are you... a monster?"

Zara's question caught both Lina and Gourry off guard. It had taken them quite a while to figure out Xellos' true identity. Gourry had noticed it before any of the others had, but even still he hadn't figured it out so quickly. Xellos knelt down so that he was on eye level with Zara.

"And what if I am?" He asked the boy, still smiling.

"You don't act like one." Was Zara's reply.

Xellos stood back up and laughed. Lina felt Zara's grip on her pants leg tighten.

"Say, you're pretty neat, kid. Who are you anyway? Why are you hanging around Lina? She's no monster, but she certainly acts like it."

Lina wrenched herself from Zara's grip. "JUST WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MONSTER?" She exclaimed, with a Fireball in her hand ready to throw.

"No one." Xellos replied, obviously enjoying Lina's outburst. He neglected to mention that the insane amount of negative energy that radiated from her when she was angry was one of the reasons he enjoyed hanging around the sorceress. "Well, I have other matters that must be attended to, but it was nice visiting with you again, Miss Lina." He said politely. "Goodbye now."

"Wait a second! Don't think that you're going to get off so easily! Hey!" Lina yelled, but Xellos had already teleported away.

"That guy never changes." Gourry remarked.

"Yeah," Lina replied. "But he did kind of help us out- if this lake legend turns out to be true, I mean. Now what's wrong with you Zara?"

Zara was still hiding behind Lina. "Is he gone?" Zara asked.

"Uh, yeah he's gone alright. What's the matter with you?" Lina asked. Zara seemed to be making a pretty big deal of it.

"I don't like monsters." Zara replied.

"Me neither, but we have to deal with them from time to time." Lina replied.

"I _don't like _monsters." Zara repeated. Lina was taken aback by the amount of pure, irrational fear that she saw in Zara's eyes.

"Uh, well, then you don't like monsters." Lina said, unsure of how she should respond to the boy's fear.

"Now where do we find this lake?" Gourry asked. "He said it was to the west, right?"

"East, Gourry." Lina groaned. "Just follow me. And don't _you _get separated again, got it?" She directed this last question at Zara. The boy nodded, and followed behind them.

Lina and Gourry stopped when they reached the edge of the lake. "Turns out Xellos was right after all. There _is _a lake here." Lina remarked. "Now let's see if the rumours were true...Gourry? Zara?"

"Here." Gourry responded. "And, uh, Zara is..."

Lina quickly scanned the area with a quick glance, her anger rising. "Where is he? Didn't I _just _tell him specifically not to-"

"Lina! Gourry! Lookit what I found!"

Lina calmed just a bit as she turned to the boy running toward them. "Don't dothat! I told you to keep up and not get separated again, and- what the heck is _that_?"

Lina was referring to the small creature in Zara's hands. It was dark, but shiny, and looked like some sort of overgrown tadpole. It was almost cute... in a creepy sort of way.

The little creature made a sound. "_keropa~!"_

"It's name is Keropa." Said Zara. "I found it over by the lake."

"Get rid of it." Lina said blatantly.

"Aww, can't I keep it?" Zara pleaded.

"It is kind of cute, Lina." Gourry admitted.

"I don't care. We don't need it. We have to find the legendary beast of the lake, remember? That... keropo, or whatever you called it, will just get in the way."

"B-but... Lina..." Zara silently pleaded with the sorceress with his eyes. Lina cringed. She hated it when Zara looked at her that way. It made her feel strangely weak, a feeling she didn't like at all.

"Don't let it get in the way." Lina said as she continued walking. "If it causes any problems at all, it's going to learn a thing or two about a spell called the Dragon Slave. Understand?"

Zara didn't quite comprehend the threat behind the Dragon Slave, and smiled happily. "Thanks Lina!"

"Whatever." Lina rolled her eyes. "Stupid kid..." she muttered under her breath.

As they walked the perimeter of the lake, they didn't find anything of interest.

"Maybe Xellos was just messing with us... that annoying monster..." Lina grumbled.

"Uh, Lina?"

"I'm going to get back at him one of these days, just you watch."

"Lina?"

"I'll pound him so hard, that monster will be sorry that he ever messed with us."

"Lina!"

"What is it Gourry?" Lina turned to her friend who had been interrupting her through her soliloquy.

"I think you might be jumping to conclusions too quickly." Gourry said timidly. Zara was cowering behind him, clutching the tadpole creature in fear. Lina got the message.

"There's a giant monster right behind me, isn't there?"

"Yeah."

Lina turned quickly on her feet, and found herself facing a giant fishlike monster with gleaming red scales, and plenty of sharp teeth, levitating just a few feet over the water's surface.

"I figured as much." Lina said. "Well, no other choice. We've just got to prove that we're powerful enough to have our questions answered. Get ready..."

"Right!" Gourry pulled out his sword. "Stand back Zara, this could be dangerous."

Zara clutched Keropa and backed away a little, to let Lina and Gourry handle the situation. He didn't want to mess with monsters anyway, especially after the run in with that particularly suspicious human-looking one a little while back...

Lina and Gourry fought the monster, Lina throwing attacks to send it in one direction, only to meet Gourry's sword when it tried to dodge. Zara watched in amazement at their incredible teamwork. It was obviously something that had taken lots of time to perfect. Lina and Gourry had been together for quite a while after all- longer than Zara had been alive. It made sense that they would understand each other's fighting style and be able to work out a team effort to destroy whatever was in their way.

"FLARE ARROW!" Lina shot the attack toward the monster. "Anyone order fish well-done?"

The fish monster barely dodged past, and shot a beam of dark energy toward them.

Lina nimbly leaped aside and Gourry deflected the blow with his sword. "Not so tough now, are you?" He teased.

"Let's finish this up!" Lina exclaimed. "FIREBALL!"

Lina's Fireball created a path through the water as it shot toward the monster. There was an explosion on the surface of the lake as the spell met its target. Lina held her breath as she watched the steam clear. The monster was... not there?

"It's gone!" Lina yelled.

She turned around quickly to see the glittering red monster materialize behind her. It charged forward, knocking Lina into the murky waters of the lake. She felt herself sinking further and further, pulled by the mysterious creature.

"Lina!" Gourry yelled, as he watched his orange-haired companion sink beneath the surface of the water. He looked as though he might jump in after her, but stopped for a moment. The monster had succeeded in its plan- to take the battle to its own element. Lina and Gourry had the advantage while on land, but in the water, the fish monster reigned. If Gourry jumped in after her, he'd only be doing what the monster wanted him to. But if he didn't...

"Lina-!" Zara shrieked, running toward the water. The tadpole creature squirmed in his arms. Suddenly, it jumped out and straight into the water, swimming quickly out of sight. "K-keropa?" Zara questioned.

Lina had tried in vain to separate herself from the monster's grasp, but it was too strong, and she couldn't breathe or see. She felt herself dwindling on the verge of consciousness, when suddenly she perceived a force tugging her upward. It was... Zara's tadpole thing? Lina had no time to wonder, as a flash of light surrounded her, and suddenly she was back on the shore of the lake!

Lina gasped for breath and lost her balance. She began to collapse, but was supported by the two companions she had left on the surface.

"Gourry? Zara?" She gasped, beginning to regain consciousness. "What just..."

Lina turned to see two figures floating over the lake. The fish monster was now opposed by a large green dragon that stood protectively between the small group of humans and the fishlike monster.

"Zara... is that..." Gourry began.

Zara nodded, pointing to the dragon. "Keropa!" He exclaimed.

The massive green dragon fired an attack at the fish monster, which seemed to do nothing more than immobilize it. Turning to Lina and her companions, the dragon looked at them as if it was asking them what they were going to do next.

"Here's my chance!" Lina said smiling.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows,_

_Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows._

_I pledge myself to conquer all the foes that stand_

_Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand!_

_DRAGON SLAVE!"_

The explosion encompassed the entire lake, with an incredible display of light. Lina nodded, approvingly.

"Hmph, we sure showed him, didn't we?"

All of the trees around the lake had been knocked down, and the monster obliterated. But the sparkling water of the lake remained. The green dragon hovering overhead, flew down toward the surface of the water, near where Lina and her friends were standing. In another small flash of light, the dragon had morphed herself into the form of a human girl, still floating just above the surface of the water.

"You are looking for answers?" She asked in a voice that was feminine, but surprisingly deep.

"Uh, yeah." Lina replied. "Who are you?"

"I am the dragon that guards this lake. People come to me for my knowledge, but it is given only to those strong enough to make use of it. You have proven yourselves more than strong enough. What is it that you wish to know?"

"So we can ask you any questions that we want?" Lina enquired.

"The three of you may each ask one question." The dragon replied.

"Alright, I guess I might as well start." Lina said, taking Zara by the hand. "This boy- where does he come from?"

"This boy..." The dragon considered Zara for a moment. She continued with her answer. "...he comes from the village of Mahoutskai, which is north of here, about two week's journey."

"Two week's journey? Are you serious?" Lina exclaimed.

"You have already asked your question." The dragon-girl replied. She then turned to Gourry. "And you?"

"Uh, well, Lina already figured out what we wanted to know so... I'll just ask something that has been bugging me for a while." He said.

Lina suddenly payed closer attention. What was he going to ask?

"Exactly how old is Zara anyway?"

Lina sighed, not realizing she had been holding her breath. Of course Gourry's question would be something stupid, and it certainly wouldn't involve her.

The dragon replied. "This boy, Zara, is exactly three years, seven months, two weeks, and one day old."

"Wow, that _is_ exact." Gourry said in disbelief.

"And now for the child." The dragon said, turning to Zara.

Lina stepped forward. "Since he _is_ only three years old, can one of us ask a question for him instead?" She requested.

"No." The response was fast and definite.

Lina sighed inwardly. There was so much else that she could have asked about- treasure... riches... but now she would just have to put up with whatever the three-year-old chose to ask.

Zara approached the dragon. "Um, Keropa?" He began. "Will... will I ever get my memory back?"

Lina was surprised at the relevance of the question. Zara was certainly intelligent for someone his age.

The dragon-girl considered the question for a moment before replying. "Future events are not mine to foretell." She said. Zara looked discouraged. "But, I can say that it is possible to collect the information that you have lost, if you search hard enough."

Zara smiled again, now hopeful. "Thank you." He said.

The dragon nodded to them and began to disappear. "May luck help you on your journey..." She said, her voice fading with her image.

"Goodbye Keropa!" Zara called out.

Lina grabbed his arm and began walking. "Come on kid, we've got to get a move on. It sounds like I'm going to have to put up with you for another two weeks..."

As they walked in silence, they all thought to themselves.

_Two weeks is way too long! _Thought Lina angrily.

_Two weeks... it's too short. _Zara thought sadly.

_Two weeks... _Thought Gourry. _I have a feeling that these two weeks will turn out stranger than we'd ever expect..._

-Yay! An appearance from everyone's favourite monster- Xellos! Took him long enough to get involved in the plot... His appearance was way too short though. Don't worry! He's going to have a much bigger role in this as the story progresses. What role is that? Why, that's a secret of course! In chapter 4, we learn that Zara is deathly afraid of thunderstorms. What happens when he gets separated from Lina and Gourry during the middle of one? He makes a new friend of course! R&R! :3-


	4. 4: Thunder! Zara's new friend!

-Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! I've been trying to stay a chapter ahead, which means that I'll post chapter 4 when I finish writing 5, etc. Chapter 5 was the longest one yet, so I apologise. Do enjoy this one though. It's a bit angsty, but I tried to put at least a little humour too.-

**4- Thunder! Zara's new friend**

Lina was in one of her moods again.

It might have been the heat, which was strange for this late in the year. The humidity simply made it worse, and there were dark clouds in the sky, making the late afternoon seem even later.

It could have also been the fact that Zara had been clinging tightly to her for the past hour and wouldn't let go.

Thunder rolled, somewhere off in the distance. "I'm scared." Zara said, clutching Lina.

"Of all the kidnapped children in the world, why did I have to rescue the one who's afraid of _everything_?" Lina groaned. She attempted to separate Zara from her, but he had a firm grip and wouldn't budge. "Why don't you go bother Gourry? I'm sure he'd be willing to put up with you."

Zara still didn't move. Lina could feel her irritation growing.

"Gourry, can you _please _do something about this kid? Anything?"

Gourry had been keeping his distance to make sure that he didn't cause Lina's wrath to flare up again. "Well, if he doesn't want to let go, you shouldn't force him. He might start crying again."

"If he doesn't let go, I'm going to give him a _real _reason to cry!"

Zara's eyes widened at the threat. "B-but Lina..." He began.

"Don't give me any 'buts' kid, alright? Just because I'm taking you home, doesn't mean that I care about you at all. I don't care if you're scared, got it? Now leave me alone, or I might just change my mind about this whole thing and make you find your way home by yourself."

Zara's grip had loosened enough for Lina to pull herself free and walk purposefully in the direction that they were going. Zara turned to hug Gourry instead.

"Does Lina not like me?" He asked plaintively.

"Sure she likes you." Gourry answered. "She just gets a little... insensitive at times. But she really does care for you, okay?"

Zara nodded and followed Gourry closely. He hoped that the swordsman was correct.

Lina obviously would have gotten irritated if she had heard their conversation, but thankfully she hadn't. She was too busy thinking to herself.

_Afraid of thunderstorms... humph! What a stupid fear. _She thought angrily. But then she began thinking about a long time ago...of a certain little girl who had also been afraid of thunderstorms... one who had received a lot of ridicule from her older sister for it... She stopped her thoughts abruptly.

_What am I thinking? Lina Inverse has no fear! I said so myself yesterday! _

She paused and began to wonder whether Zara would be afraid of things like that all of his life. With his magical abilities, Lina doubted it highly. But still, the world must be a pretty scary place for a three-year-old. When you're that small, everything is bound to be frightening. She couldn't blame him... could she?

Lina almost felt sympathetic towards Zara. _Being a little kid_ _pretty hard. _She thought. _I'd almost forgotten that..._

Lina quickly shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts. She wasn't going to soften up just for some little kid anyway. "Are you guys coming or what?" She asked, turning around. Gourry and Zara were lagging quite far behind. "Pick up the pace! At this rate, I'm going to get to Mahoutskai a whole week before you guys do!"

"We're coming! Would you wait up?" Gourry yelled back.

Lina wanted to continue on at her own pace, but she acquiesced and waited until the two caught up with her. "Took you long enough." She mumbled.

There was suddenly a large flash of lightning, followed closely by a clap of thunder. Zara screamed.

"Hey hey, don't do that! You'll scare everything in this forest away." Lina chided kindly, trying to calm the boy.

Zara looked up at her. "Will it even scare away the monsters?"

Lina didn't realize the connotation of the question. "Yeah, even the monsters." She replied.

Zara screamed again. Lina covered her ears.

"No! I stand corrected! Monsters are actually _attracted_ to screaming like that! They like human pain, remember? Don't scream anymore!"

Zara shut his mouth suddenly. He certainly didn't want to attract his greatest fear to the place where he was. Instead, he simply whispered, "Monsters like thunderstorms."

"How do you know that?" Gourry asked.

Zara paused for a moment. "I just do." He whispered in reply.

Lina sighed. All of this talking was getting them nowhere. "Look you guys, let's just try to find someplace to set up camp before it starts to rain on us..." The weather at that moment seemed to read Lina's mind, and rain began to pour from the sky. It was as if the entire sky full of clouds had been waiting for that particular moment to drop the entirety of their rain upon the unsuspecting travellers.

"Now what do we do?" Gourry yelled over the sudden sound of pouring rain.

"Run!" Lina yelled back.

The trio took off through the pouring rain in an attempt to find shelter from the deluge.

"Quickly! In here!" Lina had found a small cave opening in the rocky cliff nearby. She ran inside, and began shaking the water out of her hair and cape. The temperature had dropped dramatically since that afternoon, and Lina began to shiver now that she had stopped running. Gourry followed her into the cave.

"Wow, what a downpour." He remarked, looking out at the rainstorm.

"Sure is." Lina replied. Sensing that something was missing, she turned to her companion. "Where's Zara?"

"Huh? Zara? He was behind me the last time I saw..." Gourry's voice trailed off.

"IDIOT!" Lina yelled, whacking Gourry over the head. "How could you lose him at a time like this?"

"Hey, you weren't paying attention to him either!" Gourry defended.

"I was trying to get out of that crazy storm!"

"Well, so was I!"

Lina clenched her fist. "So I guess Zara's out there somewhere. Wet, cold, and scared out of his mind no doubt." Lina had been worried about the safety of her friends before, but back then there had been the reassurance that they could take care of themselves. All of Lina's closest friends had strong magic abilities and/or incredible fighting skills. They could overcome any obstacle thrown in their path. But Zara didn't have either of those qualities- or at least didn't know how to use them. Lina felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "We've got to go find him." She said, beginning to head back out into the chilly downpour.

"Hold on." Gourry said, stopping her. "You can't just go back out in that."

"But Gourry-"

"You stay here. Make a fire and get warm. You could catch a cold if you don't. I'll go out after Zara."

"Gourry, I'm fine. I'm Lina Inverse; I don't catch colds."

"I'm not asking you, Lina. I'm telling you. Stay here."

Lina was taken aback by the seriousness in Gourry's voice. It was a side of him she had almost never seen. She was starting to get irritated.

"_Telling me?_ Who do you think you are, telling _me _what to do?"

"Someone who doesn't want you to get sick." Gourry replied.

"I already told you! Lina Inverse doesn't get-"

"Please stay here, Lina. It would make me feel better. Okay?"

Lina didn't respond. Wasn't it just like Gourry to be overprotective of her? After all, it was his job, as far he was concerned...

"Okay, I'll stay- but only until I get dried off. Then I'm coming to help you search. And don't you dare tell me what to do ever again, or I'll Fireball your face off. Got it?"

Gourry nodded, relieved that Lina was actually listening to him for once.

"I'll find Zara, so don't worry." He said on his way out.

"I'm not worried." Lina lied.

Lina had been right- Zara was cold, wet, and scared beyond belief. It wasn't his fault that he was a bit slower than his companions- after all he was only a little kid. He called out their names as he ran blindly over the rocky ground of the forest.

"Lina! Gourry! Lina? Lin-" Zara's foot snagged on an exposed tree root, and he began to fall toward the rock-strewn ground. Instinctively avoiding a face-plant, he stretched out his arms and legs. His hands and knees made the first painful contact with the rocks and the rest of him toppled over to the side.

He tried to pick himself up to fully examine the damage the rocks had done, but the first glimpse of blood on his hands and knees deterred him.

Zara was overcome with the fear of being alone and the pain of his injuries, and began to cry loudly. He attempted to wipe away his tears, but this only stung his scratched-up hands.

Zara heard footsteps approaching, and looked up, his vision blurry. He saw a figure coming curiously toward him, but it was too dark to tell anything other than the fact that it wasn't Gourry or Lina. Zara blinked away a few tears in an attempt to see the figure better, but the distance between them was still filled with darkness, until...

_CRASH!_

A sudden flash of light illuminated the space- and also the being in front of him. Zara's eyes widened before he clamped them shut. He wanted to scream, but couldn't. All he could do was make himself as small as possible, and hope that the monster hadn't seen him... hadn't heard him... didn't intend to attack him...

"Hey kid, what happened? Are you okay?"

It sounded like a human's voice, but not one that Zara recognized. He remembered the encounter with Xellos, and kept his eyes tightly shut, trying not to move.

The figure approached him and crouched down to Zara's level. Still, he kept his eyes shut.

"Looks like you got beat up pretty badly. Did you fall or something? Here, maybe this will help."

Zara opened his eyes just a bit to see a flicker of light. It was a recovery spell, one that he had seen Lina use before. He felt the pain in his hands and knees dulling. The light faded, and Zara wiped his face off, now that it no longer stung his hands.

"There, that's better, huh? Now can you tell me what you're doing out here? This is no place for a little kid to be out on his own, especially not in this weather."

Zara finally turned his head to look up at the person who had helped him. He let out a small gasp. The face was human- a young man who couldn't have been very much older than Lina or Gourry. But there was something about his face that wasn't quite... normal.

"You... you're not a monster." Zara said.

"Not completely." Came the reply. "How could you tell?"

"I just could." Zara replied. He wasn't sure what it was that told him. After all, Xellos had looked more human than this person, but there was some sort of instinct that told Zara that he was indeed human... that he could be trusted.

"Who are you anyway? Did you get lost?"

"Yeah..." Zara replied. "Uh, I'm Zara... and you?"

"The name's Zelgadis." The chimera extended a hand to the little boy, who was happy to have help standing again.

"So Zara, how did you get out here by yourself? Did you get separated from your parents?"

Zara remembered the experience in Seyruun, and was going to do his best to avoid Lina's wrath this time.

"Erm, no. My friends actually." He said.

"Your friends, huh? Are they your age? Are they alone now too?" Zelgadis asked.

"No. They're grown-ups. And they're together... I think." Zara realize that he didn't have the slightest idea what had happened to Lina or Gourry. They could have been separated from each other as well.

"Grown-ups?" Zelgadis questioned. He didn't quite understand the boy's situation. "Are they... friends of your parents or something?"

"No." Zara replied. "My parents are... well, I don't really have any right now. Just my friends."

"Oh, I understand now." Zelgadis replied. These 'friends' were probably more like adoptive parents. "Well, there's no use standing here and getting even more wet, so... If you'd like, you could come with me for a little while so that we can find these friends of yours, okay?"

Zara's eyes sparkled. "Oh, thank you mister!"

Zelgadis couldn't believe he was doing this. It certainly wasn't the sort of thing he normally did... but then again this wasn't quite a normal situation. After all, he certainly couldn't leave this little boy out in the cold rain all by himself. Plus this kid seemed to be different as well. Most children that age ran away from Zelgadis once they got a good look at him. But Zara actually seemed happy to see him.

_He could tell that I was still part human... but I wonder if he's even human himself... _Zel thought as he began to lead the little boy back to the place where he had set up camp nearby.

Lina had finally gotten dry and warm, and was drifting slightly to sleep when Gourry returned. She woke up with a start.

"Gourry! You're soaking wet! Did you find anything?" Lina asked, approaching her friend.

"Nothing at all." He said sadly. "And it's too dark to see anything out there now. The only thing we can do is wait until morning to keep searching and hope that..." His voice trailed off.

Lina stood up with a Fireball in hand. "We can't give up like that!" She said beginning to panic.

"Lina, it wouldn't take long for the rain to put out that Fireball. It's too dark, wet, and cold to search effectively anyway..."

Lina ignored the fact that Gourry had just correctly used the word 'effectively.' "It's too dark, wet, and cold for Zara to be out there all by himself! When did you stop caring about him?" She asked, glaring at her friend.

Gourry was astonished at the concern in Lina's words. "I never stopped caring about Zara!" He replied, hurt. "When exactly did you start?"

Lina flushed. "I-I never said that!" She stammered. "I never said that I cared about that little brat!"

"You seriously implied it."

"Quit using big words Gourry! It's weird!" Lina looked like she was about to throw the Fireball at Gourry. He flinched, but she decided against it. "Humph. If you won't go out after Zara, then I will." Lina said, heading out.

"Lina wait! You can't go alone!" Gourry chased after her.

"_What_ did I say to you earlier about telling me what to do? Why are you so darn overprotective of me all the time?" Lina asked.

Gourry could think of a lot of answers to that question. "Because I'm your bodyguard. It's my job." He replied.

Lina glared at him. "I never _asked _you to be my bodyguard, idiot."

"I know."

It was such a simple answer, Lina had no way to disagree. She continued out into the rainstorm. "I'm searching now and that's final." She said back, then added "If you try to follow me, this Fireball will turn from a light source to a weapon, got it?"

"Got it." Gourry sighed, and watched her leave. When she was finally out of sight, he stood up again. "I really don't mind Fireballs that much. It's getting hit with a Dragon Slave that really hurts..." He mumbled to himself as he silently followed the path Lina had taken. After all, he was her bodyguard, whether she liked it or not.

Zelgadis lead Zara to his camp beside a nearby riverbank. He had been travelling alongside this particular river for a while now, following an old map that he had found folded up in a book of shape-shifting spells. None of the spells created the results that he had wanted, but he thought that the map might be of some use. The two retreated quickly into the small tent, happy to get out of the rain. Zel used a spell to light a small lamp.

"I'm sorry if it's a little small, it's a one-person tent, and I didn't expect to have company..." Zelgadis apologized. Zara was small enough that he hadn't noticed.

"It's nice." He said, smiling at his new friend.

"I guess we should wait until this rain lets up to go looking for your friends. If you're tired, you should probably get some sleep while you can." Zel said. Zara nodded in reply and leaned against a pillow in one corner of the tent.

Zelgadis pulled a pen and paper from his belongings, and began to write. "What are you writing?" Zara asked quietly.

"Just a letter."

"Who's it for?"

"A... friend of mine." Zelgadis replied hesitantly.

"Oh. That's nice. Does your friend write back?" Zara enquired.

"No... er, I don't think she actually _gets_ my letters at all, to tell the truth."

"Huh? Then why do you write them if your friend doesn't even read them?"

"I don't know... I guess it's so that I'll feel less... lonely..." The discussion was taking a turn that Zelgadis didn't like, and he wanted to end the conversation there. But, unfortunately, the little boy was already too far into the situation to leave it at that.

"Why are you lonely? Don't you have friends?" Zara questioned.

"Well yes, but..."

"But what?"

Zelgadis avoided eye contact with the little boy. "They had things they needed to do, and so did I. We went our separate ways. It was bound to happen eventually."

"So why didn't you make new friends?" Zara was curious.

Zelgadis sighed, realizing that he had to explain his situation to Zara. "It's really not that easy to make friends when you look like _this._" He said. "People aren't so quick to care about someone who looks the way I do."

"That doesn't make any sense." Zara said, puzzled. "After all, caring comes from the inside, so why should it matter what the outside is like, so long as you care on the inside?"

Zelgadis stared, wide-eyed at the boy. "How old are you?" He asked.

"Three... and a half." Zara replied.

Zelgadis was stunned to hear such philosophical thoughts coming from such a young child. It almost sounded like something Amelia would say...

"Well, you're pretty wise for a little kid." Zel replied. He then turned back to his letter, signifying that he was finished talking.

"Thanks..." Zara said leaning back against the pillow, his voice trailing off as he began to fall asleep.

Zelgadis listened as Zara's breathing became long and steady, and then turned his attention back to the letter he was writing.

'_My dearest Amelia, I hope this letter finds you well as always.'_

_Yeah right, I wish. _Zelgadis thought sarcastically.

'_Today seems to have been the last day of this late-fall heat wave, as a thunderstorm hit, bringing with it a cold front. That's certainly a relief, as cooler weather will make travelling much more pleasant. What is the weather like in Seyruun? If it's cold, you should remember to dress warmly. We wouldn't want you getting sick, right? Anyway, not much has happened lately (obviously, since there seems to be nothing better to discuss than the weather!)Although, during today's thunderstorm, something slightly interesting did happen. I had just set up camp a bit early due to the dark cloud cover when it began to rain. While it was raining, I thought I heard a sound nearby, one that sounded almost like a child crying. When I went out to investigate, I was surprised at what I found...'_

At that moment, Zelgadis' writing was interrupted by a huge flash of lightning, accompanied by an enormous clap of thunder. Zara woke up suddenly, screaming.

"H-hey! Don't worry, it was just a little thunder! It's not going to hurt you!" Zel tried to calm the child. Zara only became more distressed. "No! The monster! Fire... people... Help! I want out! Somebody help me!"

Zelgadis stared at the boy who was spouting nonsensical phrases. Had he had a nightmare of some kind? "Zara, are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

Zara began to cry, and muttered words between sobs. "Don't... don't let them get me... please... Lina... Lina where are you?" He stood up suddenly and ran for the exit to the tent.

"H-hey! Where are you going? It's still pouring rain out there!" Zel tried to stop the boy.

"I... have to... have to find Lina!" He yelled as he disappeared into the inky darkness of the night.

Zelgadis grabbed his cloak and ran out after the boy, his mind racing. Zara must have had a serious nightmare to run off like that. And that name... surely it must be a coincidence! There had to be more than one girl in the world named 'Lina.' Zara couldn't possibly be referring to Lina Inverse, could he?

Gourry mentally scolded himself as he searched through the pelting rainstorm. He'd lost track of Lina. Now not only was Zara missing, but Lina was missing as well. This did not make the swordsman happy- he was supposed to protect Lina, not lose her! If only she wasn't so defiant all the time!

_But then she wouldn't be Lina... _He reminded himself. He would rather put up with her antics all the time rather than have her change. _I love her just the way she is. _He thought.

Gourry chuckled at the thought of what Lina would do if she ever heard him say that. _She'd give me a good whack over the head in for sure... plus there'd definitely be a Fireball, maybe even a Dragon Slave, with my name on it..._

The rain began to lighten just a bit, as if it sensed that Gourry was in a better mood. _Ah, the rain's letting up some. _He thought happily. _Not that it really matters though. I'm already completely soaked._

Footsteps splashed through the muddy ground behind him. He turned toward the source of the sound, hoping to identify the sound. He'd had lots of experience with situations like this one- sound created a better image than sight, as dark as it was. Gourry could tell that the footsteps were too heavy to be Lina- and much too heavy to be Zara.

"Hey- is someone there?" He asked. A familiar voice answered.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a little boy... Gourry, is that you?"

Gourry finally got close enough to see his old friend in front of him. "Zel!" He exclaimed.

Zelgadis uncharacteristically smiled. "Glad to see you haven't forgotten at least half of my name this time."

Gourry was relieved to see a familiar face in all the chaos that was going on. "Hey Zel, you haven't happened to see Lina around here anywhere, have you? Or a little boy? He's about three, with brown hair, and uh..."

"You mean Zara?" Zelgadis asked.

"Huh? You know Zara?" Gourry replied, surprised.

"Yeah, I found him crying. He tripped and fell. I used a recovery spell on him, and took him back to my tent to get out of the rain. He's pretty smart. We talked for a while about..." Zelgadis paused. "Well, we talked. Anyway, he'd just fallen asleep when he woke up suddenly. I think he had a nightmare. He started yelling about finding 'Lina' and ran off. I didn't think he was talking about _your _Lina, but I suppose..."

"Yeah, he was talking about _my _Lina all right." Said Gourry, grinning at the way the chimera had phrased it. His mood changed suddenly as he realized the situation. "Wait, so you mean Zara is out all by himself again?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Then we've got to go find him! Lina too!" Gourry turned and began to run off. Zelgadis followed closely behind.

"What is your connection to Zara anyway?" Zel asked as they ran.

"Lina and I found him with this weird group of bandits. I guess he was kidnapped or something. Had his memory erased too. We decided to take him back to his home."

"That's rather nice of you. How did you get Lina to agree to this?"

"It took some work... She finally agreed when she figured out that Zara could use magic. We just found out where he comes from a couple days ago. That's where we're going." Gourry explained.

"And where is that?" Zel asked curiously. It was no surprise to him that Zara could use magic.

"Ma- ha-something..." Gourry began. "I can't remember, but it's something long..."

"Mahoutskai?"

"Yeah! That was it! I think..."

Zelgadis shook his head. Gourry certainly hadn't changed. "So you two are the 'friends' that he was talking about?"

"'Friends?' Is that what he called us?" Gourry laughed. "Yeah, we sure are. Lina would be happy to hear that."

"What do you mean?" Zel wondered.

"Oh, we were in Seyruun a few days ago, and Zara told Amelia that we were his _parents_. Lina got so mad, I was afraid that she was going to blow up the whole place! Luckily Phil stepped in before she could do any major damage."

"Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, stopping. "You saw her? How is she doing? Is everything all right in Seyruun?"

Gourry smiled at the chimera's concern. "Oh yeah, she's doing fine. She wanted to come on our expedition with us, but she had things that she had to do in Seyruun that she couldn't leave. She also said that she'd miss your letters."

"My- my letters? She reads them?" Zelgadis stammered.

"Yeah, what's wrong? You send them to her, right?"

"Yes, it's just... I wasn't... I didn't think that she..." His voice trailed off as he tried to figure out what it was that he wanted to say. "Aren't we supposed to be searching for Zara?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh yeah! That's right! I totally forgot! Come on!" Gourry began to run again, calling Zara's name.

Gourry's mind couldn't stay on one thing for more than a while, and for once, Zelgadis was actually glad of that.

The chill and dampness of the rainstorm was putting Lina in a foul mood. Or, that was what she would have told you anyway. In actuality, she was still mad at Gourry, and concerned about Zara.

"Stupid jellyfish-brain... trying to tell _me _what to do... who does he think he is?" She mumbled to herself angrily. She couldn't figure out why it made her so mad. _It's just that... he takes his job way to seriously! Bodyguards protect against attacks from monsters and things like that. Not little things like colds..._

Lina pulled her cape around her in an attempt to get warm, but since the fabric was already soaking wet, it only succeeded in making her colder. If there was one thing she couldn't stand almost as much as being hungry, it was being cold and wet. "Agh! I can't stand this!" She yelled, kicking a large rock. The rock, which had appeared stable just a moment ago, toppled with Lina's force and landed in a large puddle, sending a spray of water and mud up at the sorceress.

She stood still for a moment, feeling her anger growing. Wouldn't Xellos like to bother her right now?

"Zara you stupid brat, where in the world did you run off to?" Lina yelled at the top of her lungs. She paused. Lina hadn't been expecting a response, but was taken by surprise.

"...Lina?"

Lina turned around swiftly, recognizing the small voice. "Zara? Where are you?" She yelled as the followed the voice.

"...Lina... help me!"

"Zara!" Lina exclaimed as she grabbed the little boy. Zara thrust himself into her arms. Lina considered separating his grasp from her and reprimanding him for it, but she didn't.

"Lina... I was so scared..." Zara sobbed.

"Of what? The storm?" Lina asked.

"No... the monster... those people... the fire..."

Lina couldn't make sense of what he was saying. "What is all that? A nightmare?" She asked.

Zara said nothing. His hands were wrapped around Lina's neck, and he hugged her tighter as if he thought she might disappear.

"Careful there. Any tighter and I won't be able to breathe." Lina complained good-naturedly.

Zara was already half asleep by the time Lina picked him up and began carrying him back in the direction of the little cave. She came to it to find the fire almost burned out, and her swordsman companion absent.

"Dang it Gourry, I told him not to follow me. He's going to get a serious Fireball when he gets back." Lina said to herself. She rekindled the fire, with difficulty as she tried to hold the sleeping Zara as well. Satisfied, she sat down and leaned against one of the walls. She hadn't realized how tired she really was. Lina considered separating herself from Zara's grasp, but realized that she didn't quite have the heart to do it. She settled into a comfortable position and felt herself drifting to sleep...

"Maybe Lina has found Zara already." Zelgadis said as they searched.

Gourry nodded. "You might be right. Should we go back to that cave- maybe they're there."

"Alright. You'll have to lead the way." Zel replied, following Gourry.

The two hadn't spoken all that much since they had met up. Zelgadis wasn't a talkative person to begin with, and Gourry was too worried to make conversation anyway.

"Here's where the cave is... the fire is still going..." Gourry observed. Then he gasped. "Lina! Zara! They _did _come back after all!"

Zelgadis was taken by surprise at his first glimpse of the sorceress. He remembered her as the sadistic, violent, and mischievous girl who didn't seem to care about anyone besides herself. Now here she was, curled up sleeping peacefully, a small child with his arms wrapped around her resting on her shoulder. It would have been a beautiful moment... if Zel didn't remember who Lina really was. Gourry ran up to the sorceress and began to shake her awake.

"Lina, wake up!"

"Huh?... Gourry?"

"Lina!"

"FIREBALL!"

Lina's attack took Gourry by surprise, and he staggered back.

"Oww..." he mumbled. "What was that for?"

"I told you not to follow me, idiot! That's what you get for not listening!"

Zelgadis watched in amusement. He knew that the sweet and peaceful Lina wouldn't last very long.

"Huh...? Wha..?" Zara began to wake up and let go of Lina. "What's going on? Lina? Gourry? Zelgadis? How did we get in here?"

Lina had just noticed the chimera, but didn't ask him anything. She was more concerned with Zara at the moment. "You don't remember?" She asked.

"No...Why? What happened?"

_WHACK! WHACK!_

Lina hit Zara and Gourry over the head in rapid succession.

"Oww, Lina! ? What'd you hit _me _for?" Gourry asked. He still hadn't quite recovered from the Fireball.

"It's your fault. I think Zara's catching your stupidity."

"My stupidity is not contagious!" Gourry defended.

"But you admit it exists." Lina shot back.

"What exists?" Zara asked, not following the conversation.

"See?" Lina pointed out.

Zelgadis continued to listen, trying not to laugh. He'd forgotten just how entertaining it had been to travel with these two. Now if there was only a little princess justly defending Gourry's intelligence and trying to calm Lina's rage...

"You two can work this out on your own. I'm afraid that the belongings in my tent may be getting wet. I should head back..."

"Wait a sec Zel!" Lina called. "You don't have to leave so soon. Why don't you bring your stuff over here for the night and we can catch up. I figure you probably have a lot of questions..." She gestured at Zara.

"There's not much of the night left..." Zelgadis said, looking at the pale light of the moon just breaking through a patch of clouds. "But thanks for the invitation. I'm interested in hearing the details of how you guys ended up with this kid in the first place. Sounds like you've had much more exciting things going on lately than I have..."

"You have no idea." Lina smiled.

Later that night, after they had shared the stories of their adventures together, Lina, Gourry, and Zara had just gone to sleep. Zelgadis was still awake, sitting by the fire with his pen and paper. He read over what he had already written and decided that, instead of starting over, he would simply add to it. _Amelia, _he began, _you'll never believe who I met up with today_...

-Agh! So...much...angst... too bad Xellos missed it. This particular chapter was quite depressing at times, wasn't it? I guess not so much depressing as it was serious. I'm kind of saddened by it. I've decided that Gourry needs to be more forgetful, Lina needs to blow more stuff up, and Zel needs to be more... Zel-ish. We also need Amelia. And a recurring villain to move the story plot along, now that most of the characters are together. Hopefully, all those issues will be addressed in the next chapter, as Amelia returns(what'd I tell you?) and we finally meet a major villain! Great fun, no? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! R&R! :3-


	5. 5: Old Friends, New Enemies!

**5- Old Friends, New Enemies!**

"Just what has been up with thieves and books lately?" Lina wondered, as she and her friends made their way deeper into the forest. They had been passing through a town on their way to Mahoutskai when they heard about an old collection of books that had been stolen from a professor's house- and a reward for their recovery. The description of the books almost exactly matched that of the books Lina and Gourry had collected from the thieves that had kidnapped Zara.

"Perhaps they're all part of the same group." Zelgadis offered. "They might be searching for a particular piece of information."

"That _would _make sense." Lina said.

"What would make sense?" Gourry asked, just joining the conversation.

"Don't just join conversations that you know nothing about, Gourry." Lina advised, irritated. "Remember, it's better to keep quiet and _appear_ to be an idiot, rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt."

"Of course. I remember that... I think..." Gourry replied.

"See what I mean?" Lina sighed. "You never change, do you?"

"Why should I? Don't you like me the way I am?"

Lina stiffened at the question. "W-why would I? You're immature, forgetful, absent-minded, totally scatterbrained, and have a terrible habit of getting yourself into the worst situation possible. Not to mention that you're incredibly annoying and too tall for your own good."

"I'm not _that _tall." Gourry remarked.

"You're taller than I am. Which makes you too tall."

Zelgadis laughed quietly. "That makes the majority of the world too tall, Lina."

Lina turned swiftly, Fireball in hand. "SAY THAT AGAIN ZEL! I DARE YOU!"

Zelgadis didn't flinch. "I'm fine, thank you." He replied coolly.

"But Lina," Gourry began. "You're so violent, unpredictable, cruel, and have a quick temper. Plus you're greedy, and despite your bottomless appetite, you're still so small, both height-wise and..."

Lina didn't dare let Gourry finish that sentence. "FIREBALL!"

"You'd better quit making me use my spells on you instead of saving them for the bandits." She said, walking ahead, dragging her 3-year-old trainee behind her.

Zelgadis and a smouldering Gourry watched them go. "I was going to say that I like her just the way she is..." Gourry sighed. "But, then again, Lina doesn't take criticism all that well."

"I'd say not." Zelgadis replied.

"Still, I don't mind her attacking me all that much. If she didn't care about me at all, she wouldn't waste her energy that way. It's weird, but I think that's how Lina shows her affection. She acts that way to Zara too. I think she probably likes him more than she lets on..."

"You may not be all that bright, but you're certainly perceptive of other people." Zelgadis observed.

"Nah. Just Lina." Gourry laughed. "Hey, you guys! Wait for us!" He yelled, running to catch up with the sorceress and her young comrade.

Zelgadis shook his head, doubting that he'd ever totally understand his friends, and followed.

"Man, those bandits were really weak, huh?" Lina asked as she flipped through the pages of the recovered books. As expected, they were written with the same strange symbols of the books that the thieves who had kidnapped Zara had.

"Perhaps that's because you saw them and immediately used the Dragon Slave." Zelgadis scolded.

"What's wrong with _that_?" She replied defensively. "We need to get this little brat home as soon as possible; I don't have time to deal with bandits."

Zara had been standing beside Lina, attempting to read over her shoulder. It was a bit hard, as he was still just a bit shorter than she was sitting down. "Hey Lina, could you teach me to do that?" He asked suddenly.

"Do what?" Lina enquired absentmindedly.

"That spell."

"What, the Dragon Slave?"

"Yeah!"

"No."

Lina stood up, collected the books, and started back on her way to the town. "Aww, why not?" Zara pestered.

"It's way too hard for someone like you to learn, and way too dangerous to practice whenever you want to. Besides, you can't even make a real Fireball yet. How do you expect to master a spell as powerful as the Dragon Slave?"

Zara wasn't going to give up. "Can you at least teach me the words?" He asked.

Lina was beginning to get irritated by the boy's persistence. "Why do you want to learn the Dragon Slave so badly anyway?"

"Well, if I could do that, then I wouldn't have to be afraid of monsters anymore." Zara said.

Lina sighed. "Well, if I teach you the words, will you leave me alone and promise never to use it except when there is an absolute emergency?"

Zara nodded, his eyes sparkling. "Yes! I promise!"

"But Lina, _you _use it even when there's not an emergency!"

"Mind your own business, Gourry." She shot back.

It was a nice day, so Lina and her friends stayed in the same place while Lina attempted to teach the Dragon Slave incantation to Zara.

"I have a feeling that this is a bad idea." Zelgadis observed.

"Why do you say that?" Gourry questioned.

"It's just... teaching such a powerful spell to such a young child seems... dangerous."

"Well, she's just teaching him the incantation. She's not trying to teach him _how _to do it." Gourry defended.

"That's true, but..." Zel continued. "I think that perhaps Zara has the capacity to figure it out on his own."

Zara had picked up the words quickly. "So now you just say 'let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I posses.' Got it?"

Zara nodded and began to recite the spell in its entirety without mistakes. Lina was impressed. "Good job. Now remember, no more bothering me about it, and no using it unless there's an emergency. Okay?"

"Right!" Zara replied.

"Good kid." Lina said giving him a pat on the head, which Zara definitely enjoyed.

"Well, I suppose we should get going now. It's almost lunchtime, isn't it?" Zel asked.

"Sounds good!" Lina replied.

"Hold on just a minute! You four aren't going anywhere!"

Lina and friends turned around quickly to see the source of the voice. A boy, about ten or eleven, was standing on a sturdy branch in one of the trees. He wore a costume with a billowing cape and a dramatic mask that covered his face.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" Lina asked angrily.

"Are you blind? I'm the Masked Defender of Justice of course! I'm here to destroy the thieves who stole important books from the professor's house! And seeing as you fit the description of 'a strange group of suspicious people,' and have the books in your possession, I would assume that _you _are the thieves!"

"Us? Thieves?" Gourry asked timidly.

"Now hang on one minute! We're no thieves! We just got these books back from the real thieves!" Lina defended."

"That's exactly what thieves would say, isn't it?" The masked boy accused. "Now, let me teach you all that crime doesn't pay!" He began to fire magical attacks at them. Lina and her friends easily dodged.

"Geez, who does this guy think he is?" Lina growled. "I'll show him a thing or two about how you catch thieves! FLARE ARROW!"

Lina's attack caught the boy off guard and knocked him out of the tree. "You're powerful thieves..." He began, getting up.

"How many times do we have to tell you? We're not the thieves!" Lina yelled, exasperated.

"And how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not buying it! Fireball!" The boy fired a small Fireball at the group. Gourry swiftly pulled out his sword and deflected it with ease.

"Let's teach this annoying guy a lesson." Lina said, getting a Fireball of her own.

"Lina, you realize that, the more you fight him, the more he'll think that we're the thieves." Zelgadis advised.

"So? If that's true, then he's just badly informed!" Lina spat back. "Now let's get going, I'm just getting started."

"Well, I'm not." Gourry said, grabbing Lina. "Come on, let's just get out of here."

"Hey! Let go of me you idiot! I'm not done with this guy yet!" Lina writhed to escape the swordsman's grasp.

"No, he's right. We shouldn't involve ourselves in this." Zelgadis said, running after them.

The masked boy watched the group escape. "Heh, so you think you can run away huh? Well you won't escape me _that _easily!"

"Why does this guy think that _we're _the thieves?" Lina yelled as they ran.

"If you think about it, it makes sense." Zelgadis replied. "He's searching for a strange-looking group of people who have the books in their possession. You have to admit, a sorceress, a swordsman, a chimera, and a three-year-old boy make for a strange group. And we _do_ have the books."

"You're not getting away!" They could hear the voice pursuing them getting closer and closer. Lina stopped.

"What are you doing?" Gourry asked.

"I can't take this anymore! I'm fighting this guy! He's just too annoying!" Lina retorted.

"You're not going to use that spell, are you?" Zara asked.

"What? The Dragon Slave? I will if I have to."

"But you said it's just for emergencies!" He whined.

"This _is_ an emergency!" Lina spat. She had no time for annoying brats who made her out to be a criminal, and she was ready to beat him up for it.

"So...you finally...surrender yourselves to me..." The boy panted, catching his breath.

"We're not ever surrendering!" Lina shot back.

"Fine then! Looks like I'll just have to capture you the hard way!" He replied, pulling out a long rope and swinging it like a lasso.

"Oh no you don't!" Lina exclaimed. "FIREBALL!"

"Lina, maybe this is a bad idea-"

"Shut up Gourry! Fireball!" Lina said, tossing another Fireball at the strange boy who was just barely dodging her attacks. "Get back here you annoying little brat!" She yelled.

Lina continued to throw attacks and the boy continued to dodge, until...

SNAP!

"Haha, couldn't you thieves tell that I was dodging all of those attacks in order to effectively capture you?"

The boy had made a circle around the group, wrapping his rope tightly around them. "Aah! Let us go! Why didn't I see that?" Lina yelled, ferociously trying to free herself and her friends from the ropes.

"At least _I _saw it." Gourry defended.

"He tried to warn you, Lina. You didn't listen." Zelgadis pointed out.

"Shut up already and help get us out of here!" Lina said

The boy laughed at them. "It's not going to do much good." He boasted. "That's an incredibly strong rope to keep even the most terrifying bandits confined. Now to teach you all a lesson!"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Huh?" The boy turned to the voice that had come from behind him.

"What do you think you're doing, attacking innocent people with no evidence to back up your faulty claims! You call yourself a defender of Justice, yet you attack people who are actually on your side! You're doing violence to the very force that you claim to be allied with! I will not stand for this hypocrisy! JUSTICE HAMMER!"

The attack sent the boy sprawling back, knocking off his mask. He landed on the ground, eyes swirling.

"Amelia!" Lina exclaimed.

"Miss Lina! Mister Gourry! Mister Zelgadis! Zara-chan! Sorry it took me so long to get here; I hope you're not angry, but it looked like you could use some help! " Amelia addressed her friends as she worked to untie the rope.

"We're fine." Lina said, rubbing her arms where the rope had been pulled tightly.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had something going on in Seyruun." Zelgadis asked.

"I got your letter saying that you'd met up with Miss Lina and Mister Gourry, and that they finally knew where Zara-chan was from! I asked my father if it was alright to accompany you now that you had a destination, and he let me go right away. So I went to find you as fast as I could- thanks so much for writing so often Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia smiled brightly, and nearly tackled him in a hug, wrapping her arms around him.

"N-no problem, Amelia..." Zelgadis managed to say, flustered. He calmed down a bit as he watched Amelia greet the rest of her friends in the same way.

"Hmph." Lina, who was not fond of hugs, simply nodded in response.

"Good to see you too." Gourry said, messing with Amelia's hair playfully.

"Amelia!" Zara cried with delight as Amelia picked him up and spun him around.

"I'm so glad you remember me, Zara-chan!" Amelia replied, smiling. She placed the little child back down on the ground gently. "Now that we're caught up, I guess we need to figure out what to do about that guy." Amelia said, gesturing to the still unconscious boy they had just been fighting.

"Oh yeah, _him_." Lina said unhappily. "Wake up, idiot!" She yelled.

"But Lina, I'm already awake."

"Not _you _Gourry! The _other _idiot!"

"Oh, sorry. I'm used to answering to that." Gourry apologised.

The boy had gained consciousness again, and was looking up at Lina in shock. "I... I've been defeated!" He exclaimed sadly.

"No! You've got it wrong! They're not the thieves!" Amelia exclaimed. "That's Lina Inverse, and she was just returning the books back to their owner!"

"Yeah, what she said." Lina said, glancing at Amelia.

The boy stared in disbelief. "Lina Inverse? THE Lina Inverse? One of the strongest allies of Justice, and the most infamous? Oh, how could I have been so mistaken?" He moved onto his knees, begging for forgiveness. "Please Miss Lina Inverse, forgive me! I'll make it up to you- I'll do whatever you want! Please don't hurt me!"

"Just what has this little brat heard about me anyway?" Lina wondered. "Alright kid, I won't use a Dragon Slave on you _this time_... but you're making this up to me, okay?"

"Oh thank you! I'll do anything!" He replied hastily.

"_You _have to buy me lunch. Agreed?"

The boy looked up, startled by the simplicity of the request. "Buy you lunch? That's it? Consider it done!" He said happily.

"Obviously whatever he heard about her, it didn't mention her appetite." Zelgadis muttered. Thankfully, Lina didn't heard him.

The boy, who had introduced himself as David, watched in disbelief as Lina gulped down her lunch and went straight for seconds... and thirds... and fourths... etc.

"Bandit hunting must make a person really hungry." David observed.

"Oh no, Lina always eats like this." Gourry said, also on his sixth bowl of pasta.

"Wow. How could someone who eats like this all the time possibly be so small?" He remarked.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Lina growled.

"Uh, I think he just meant to say that you're thin Miss Lina!" Amelia covered. "It was a compliment!"

"Yeah, what did you think I meant? That you're short?" David asked.

"No. Just don't say anything about that again." Lina warned.

The was an awkward silence for a moment as each person frantically thought of something to say that wouldn't upset Lina any further.

"So... where are you guys going anyway?" David finally said.

"Some village called Mahozuka." Gourry said.

"Mahoutskai." Lina corrected.

"Well, I was close." Gourry said proudly.

"Mahoutskai huh?" David asked. "That's interesting. I was there a little while back. Heard an interesting story there too."

"A story?" Zelgadis asked. "About what?"

"Oh, just something that allegedly happened near the town a few years ago."

"What happened?" Amelia asked, curious.

"Yeah, tell us." Lina said, finishing her seventh helping and reaching for another. She always did enjoy a good story.

"Alright, well it went something like this." David began. "It was some time back, there was a girl from Mahoutskai who had really powerful magical abilities."

"That's really cool." Amelia enthused.

"But she used her powers for the purpose of evil."

"Oh." Amelia remarked, her smile fading.

"Anyway, the people of the town drove her away for plotting against them. So she teamed up with a powerful monster who could control fire. The monster took pity on her and decided to help her because she was weak. He aided her in destroying much of the town. He originally did it simply for the destruction that it caused, but eventually..." David paused, enjoying the drawn-out suspense.

"Eventually what?" Gourry asked.

Daniel's face took on a serious expression. "Eventually... the young woman and the monster fell in love."

"What?"

"No way!"

"Impossible!"

"That's just what the story said." Daniel defended.

"Can monsters actually fall in love?" Lina wondered.

"Anything that has a heart can fall in love, Miss Lina." Amelia said.

"But do monsters even have hearts?" Gourry asked.

"I'm sure that they do. We could ask Mister Xellos." The princess offered.

"And we all know what the answer to _that _would be." Lina said disdainfully.

"Can I finish the story?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, there's more? In that case, please continue." Lina replied.

"Okay, well the monster and the sorceress worked together for a long while, and after a time... they had a child."

"WHAT?" Lina nearly choked on her lunch.

"Okay, this story has officially lost all credibility." Zelgadis said. "That isn't even possible, is it?"

"The story seemed pretty real to the people who were telling it..." David replied.

"But did you actually _see _this child yourself?" Lina asked.

"I'm getting there." He defended. "You see, the parents were hoping that the child would either be monster or human- one or the other. But, unfortunately, it turned out to be a strange hybrid... not quite human and not quite monster either. Obviously this mix created some... strange effects."

"What kind of effects?"Amelia asked hesitantly.

"I don't really know myself. But they did say that the child inherited magic from both of its parents and was incredibly powerful from the day it was born. This scared the villagers of Mahoutskai and they did the only thing they could. They had to protect the village from being completely destroyed. So they sought out the sorceress and the child... and killed them both."

There was a collective gasp from the table. Zara, who had not been paying attention to the conversation at all, looked up. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"N-nothing. Don't mind us." Amelia said, trying to protect him from the distressing turn that the story seemed to be taking.

"When the monster found out, he was enraged. He vowed to get revenge on those who had killed his family. So now the villagers say that he has sent his minions out to get all the information that they can to allow him to get revenge on the human race... and, uh, that's the end of the story." Daniel finished.

"That's an awful ending. Nobody lived happily ever after." Gourry said sadly.

"Well, in real life things don't always work out like fairy tales." Zelgadis said.

"But it was still wrong!" Amelia said, standing up dramatically.

"What do you mean?" Lina asked.

"It was wrong of those people to kill that poor innocent child! I mean, killing is wrong to begin with, but I can understand them wanting revenge on the woman that destroyed most of their town. But the child? It hadn't even had a chance to live! To make its own decisions about right and wrong! There was no reason for it to die!" Amelia was beginning to sob.

"But you've got to understand," David began. "It was a hybrid- a terrifying mix of both black magic and evil blood. This thing was half-human and half-monster."

Zelgadis stood up beside Amelia. "So? Amelia is right, the child had no choice in the matter did it? It didn't _choose _to be a mix. It couldn't help being the way it was just because of something someone else did. It's unfair for a child to have to suffer for those reasons."

David stared for a moment at the chimera who had just spoken so passionately on the matter. He realized that Zelgadis must have been speaking on experiences of his own.

"I, um..." David wasn't sure just what to say next.

Lina stood up alongside her companions. "I think we're all overreacting to this little story that's probably not true to begin with. Why don't we just drop the subject and get moving. We can ask the people in Mahoutskai about it when we get there, okay?"

"You're right..." Zelgadis agreed with a sigh. Amelia seemed disappointed, but began to gather her belongings to leave. Her friends began to do the same.

Lina had just dismissed the story as a probable lie, but some things kept bothering her. First of all, might this monster have something to do with the strange groups of thieves that were stealing books all the time? And also, how recently had these event taken place? Could it be that it had something to do with Zara's irrational fear of monsters? Lina shook her head. It was too confusing at the moment to make any decisions.

"You'll get to Mahoutskai if you take the road just north of here." David explained. "I can accompany you to where the road forks if you'd like. There's no signpost so it's easy to take the wrong path by accident."

Lina was going to say 'that's okay, we're fine,' but her friends interfered.

"Really? That's so nice of you. Thanks." Gourry said.

"That'd be nice to have a guide so that we don't get lost." Amelia said. Zelgadis nodded in agreement.

"Let's go!" Zara exclaimed, happy to be part of the conversation after he missed the entire story earlier.

Lina sighed, annoyed, and followed her companions.

The group approached the fork in the path and turned to David. "This is the place." He said. "Mahoutskai is that way."

"Thanks for all your help." Amelia said with a smile.

"No problem. It was a pleasure to assist fellow allies of Justice."

Lina groaned. All this talk of Justice was beginning to get on her nerves. "Let's just go." She said turning, but suddenly stopped.

"Excuse me, but could you help me?" A little girl was standing on the path. She looked to be about 5 or 6 years old, with pink hair, dark pink eyes, and a hot pink-and-yellow dress to match. Lina cringed at the sight of all the pink. It wasn't a colour that she particularly liked all that much.

"Who are you? Are you lost?" Amelia came forward to ask. The girl turned to Amelia.

"Yeah, I was actually searching for someone. Do you think you could help me?"

Lina was about to object, but Amelia wouldn't let a little girl be left alone without assistance. "Of course! You can count on us!" The princess enthused.

_What are we now? The help group for lost children or something? _Lina thought sarcastically.

The little girl looked up. "I'm looking for a person named Lina Inverse. Do you know her?"

A look of surprise passed through the group. Lina stepped forward.

"Yeah, that's me actually. Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

The girl smiled happily. "You're Lina Inverse? Really? Oh, I'm so glad I finally found you! My name is Lorelei and I've been looking for you for a while. Can I ask for your help?"

Lina looked at Lorelei questioningly. "That depends. What do you need help with?" she asked.

"Oh, not much. Just some cooperation. You see, I've been sent here to kill you. May I do that please?"

Lina's mind raced in that instant, trying to verify if what she had heard was actually correct. Had this girl just politely asked for her cooperation in _killing her_?

"Excuse me?" Lina exclaimed. "But did you just ask to kill me? What makes you think that I'd ever do something like _that_?"

Lorelei seemed disappointed. "Ah, you're going to fight for your life, I see. Humans are incredibly annoying in that regard. They just don't know when to die. It appears that I will have to do this the hard way then."

Lina and friends took a step back in disbelief. Lorelei opened her previously pink eyes to reveal that they were now a glowing red colour. She held out her hand and materialised a long, metallic staff with a pointed blade attached at the top. She also floated just above the ground, propelled by a pair of gothic feathered wings. Lorelei smiled mischievously, showing off a intimidating set of fangs. "Don't look so surprised. I _am _a monster after all."

"You have to admit that she's a very colour-coordinated monster." Amelia said, surveying Lorelei's pink and yellow wings. "But those colours are not the colours of evil! Pink is a sign of feminity, and yellow signifies light and hope! You cannot wear those colours, you villain!"

Lorelei laughed hysterically. "Just what are you, the fashion police? Oh no, you're going to hurt me for wearing spring colours during in Autumn? I'm so afraid!" She teased.

"You be quiet!" Lina yelled.

"I'm afraid that's an impossibility if I want to complete my mission, Miss Lina Inverse." Lorelei said. She let out a scream that was more attack than sound, the powerful waves bombarding the group of humans. "Had enough yet?" She asked.

Lina stood back up. "If you think that's enough to intimidate me, you're terribly mistaken! FIREBALL!"

Lorelei ducked underneath the massive fireball. It grazed past her head and singed her yellow hair ribbon. "M-my ribbon!" She exclaimed. "You're going to pay for that human!" Lorelei let out another barrage of sound waves that Lina and her friends scrambled to dodge.

"What kind of attack is that anyway?" Amelia asked.

"That girl is a special type of monster." Zelgadis explained. "Some monsters are created from already living creatures, and take on the special traits of whatever animal they are created from. This one obviously appears to have been some sort of bird."

"I see." Amelia nodded, looking at Lorelei's wings. "That makes sense. But she's so powerful! What's going to happen to Miss Lina?"

Lorelei approached Lina with her staff. "Are you ready to die _now_?" She asked, annoyed.

"Not a chance!" Lina yelled back, tossing another barrage of fireballs in the direction of the monster.

Lorelei narrowly dodged the attack. She pulled out her staff again. "This is supposed to be a last resort," she said, looking at it hesitantly, "but desperate times call for desperate measures!"

Lorelei launched herself at Lina, aiming to strike her with the staff, but Gourry got in the way with his sword.

"Hold on a minute! I'm Lina's protector, and you're not doing anything to her without getting through me first!" He countered.

"Aww... seriously? What a pain!" Lorelei groaned. "I guess I'll just have to get rid of your sword then."

Gourry had been using this particular sword for a while, and had confidence in its strength. But as he held it up defensively, Lorelei slashed towards it with the dagger on the top of her staff. The blade cut through Gourry's sword with relative ease. He watched in dismay as his cherished weapon was sliced in half.

"No way! My sword!" He cried.

"That thing is sharp!" Amelia exclaimed.

Lorelei smiled, hearing the comment directed at her most prized possession. "My father made it for me. He'd be so proud to see how I've learned to use it!"

Lina clenched her teeth. Whoever had created that staff had put a lot of magic into it. That thing was incredibly powerful- and incredibly dangerous. _I've got to get that thing away from everybody. _She thought.

"Hey birdbrain! You want _me_ right? Well come and get me!" Lina teased. She turned and began to run through the forest.

"Get back here Lina Inverse!" Lorelei yelled, and flew off after the sorceress.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia called, but Lina was already out of hearing range.

"Lina! Come back!" Zara yelled, and took off after his companion.

"Z-Zara-chan! Miss Lina! Oh, what are we going to do?" Amelia asked in concern.

"We've got to find them. Those idiots..." Zelgadis said.

"And I thought _I_ was the idiot..." Gourry mumbled anxiously. "Lina, just what are you trying to do?"

"Heh, you're pretty good." Lina gasped, after fighting Lorelei for some time. The seemed pretty evenly matched. Lina's attacked were evidently wearing down on the diminutive monster, but she wasn't sure how long _she _could keep going either.

"...Same to you, Lina Inverse." Lorelei huffed. "But what say I end this before it gets messy? SHADOW BOND!"

At the incantation of the spell, Lorelei's staff created a dark cord on the ground that wrapped itself around Lina's shadow. Lina could feel the invisible cord encompassing around her, trapping her. "Wh-what spell is this?" She asked.

"This staff is made from Shadow Energy and works using it." Lorelei explained. "It's basically the principle that anything that is solid can cast a shadow, so then the reverse must be true as well. If you can create the shadow, you can create the object."

Lina nodded, knowingly. "I see. You're much more liberal with information than most monsters I know. Why are you telling me the secrets behind your attacks?"

"Oh silly human... isn't it obvious? You're going to die in just a few moments anyway." Lorelei smiled her malicious smile.

"Y-you!" Lina accused, trying her hardest to break the Shadow bonds. It was not use. They were too tight and allowed her no escape.

Lorelei raised the blade of her staff to Lina's neck. The sorceress winced, seeing the lethal weapon ready to strike. _Think of something! Anything! _She willed herself.

"H-hey! Please don't hurt Lina!"

Lorelei turned in the direction that the voice had come from, but didn't move her staff from its fixed position.

"Zara!" Lina gasped. "Get away from here! Run! Go!"

Lorelei smiled. "Oh, but won't he simply be overjoyed to witness the death of the human he cares for most in the world?"

Lina tensed. "How could you be so cruel?"

"I already told you. I _am _a monster after all." Lorelei turned to the little boy. "Tell me, do you have any last words before I destroy this human?"

"..., ... ..." Zara stood, his fists clenched and his mouth moving, but neither the monster nor the sorceress could pick out what he was saying.

"Could you speak louder? I can't hear you." Lorelei requested.

"..._ried_... _is_... _edge_... _efore_..."

"Huh?" Lorelei questioned.

Lina gasped. Zara opened his eyes, to show the red glow that she had seen the day she first met him, when he created the force-field.

"_Let all the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I posses! DRAGON SLAVE!"_

The force created an immense explosion that lit up the entire forest.

"Th-that spell!" Amelia observed. "Miss Lina!"

"This way!" Gourry directed.

Lina stood still, overcome by what had just happened. She was no longer bound by the shadow chains, but still felt as if she couldn't move. _Did... did Zara just... _

"Lina! You're okay!" The boy said, his eyes returning to normal. He ran up to her.

"Miss Lina! Zara-chan!" Amelia yelled as she caught up to them. Zelgadis and Gourry were not far behind. "I saw that spell! Was it a Dragon Slave? It was so powerful!"

Zara looked up at Lina hopefully. "Did... did I do it right?" He asked.

"Did you do it right?" Lina asked in astonishment. "That was AMAZING!" She grabbed Zara and spun him around affectionately the way that Amelia had earlier. "I've never seen anyone pick up a spell so fast! You did a super job! I knew you had it in you! I- uh..." Lina suddenly realized what she was doing, and that everyone was watching her.

She placed Zara back on the ground. "Well, uh, I'm just glad that you could help out some before we get you back to your parents." Lina said callously.

Amelia was happy to see Lina act so kind to Zara-chan, but she was still confused. "Miss Lina, do you mean to say that Dragon Slave was..."

"...all Zara's doing?" Lina finished. "Yes, it was."

"B-but it was so big!" Gourry stuttered in disbelief.

"I had a feeling that he'd be able to figure it out on his own." Zelgadis said.

Lina nodded. "Well, whatever. Where the heck did that David guy run off to anyway?"

"Uh, he fled as soon as Miss Lorelei attacked us." Amelia answered.

"Heh, figures..." Lina said. "I guess we'd better get going. We're burning daylight out here, and the sooner we get this kid back home, the better."

"Lead the way." Gourry nodded, and Lina and her friends continued on.

Not far away, a smouldering Lorelei clutched her staff with a determined look in her eyes.

"Th-those humans shall pay for that..." She muttered. "Father..." It was addressed to the staff more than anything, as she was all alone. "Don't worry Father... I will destroy Lina Inverse... I _will_!"

-I amazed at how incredibly scary the story made Lorelei out to be. I think that she came across as rather malicious, although my original intent was that she just seem childishly arrogant and overconfident. And that staff of hers? Looks like Gourry's going to have to find a new sword... Anyway, now that all the characters are together, I can relax some about having to move the plot forward so fast and add some Slayers-style humour. Such as the next chapter- at Amelia's recommendation, they all go to the beach! There's a big water fight, Lina and Zel pwn some random guys at volleyball, and Xellos builds a sandcastle. Fun, right? Until Lorelei come back for revenge... R&R! :3-


	6. 6: Vacation! The dangerous beach trip?

**-**Hi everyone! I had school off yesterday, and thought I'd get to spend a bunch of time writing, but I ended up studying for science Olympiad most of the day and didn't get much done... Here's that beach story that everyone was excited about. Including me. Dang, this was fun to write. And there's more of that crazy monster, Lorelei. But hopefully by the end of this chapter, you might feel at least a little bad for her. Enjoy!-

**6- Vacation! The dangerous beach trip?**

"A beach? But Amelia, it's the middle of Autumn." Lina said. Amelia had just brought up a trip to a nearby lake that supposedly had wonderful beaches.

"Well, you see, the size of the lake has an effect on the weather around it. It has pleasant conditions all year round. It would be nice to get some rest and have some fun for at least a little while, right Miss Lina?" Amelia asked.

"I think it sounds like fun!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Yeah, I've never been to a beach before!" Zara agreed.

"To tell the truth, I'm actually not all that opposed to the idea either." Zelgadis said.

"Well, I suppose that if everyone else wants to go... I guess we could..." Lina replied.

"Yay! It'll be so much fun!" Zara yelled, hugging Lina.

_It'll put us a day or two behind schedule... _she thought resentfully, _but maybe it would a just a little bit... fun..._

"Wow, it's so beautiful!" Zara exclaimed, looking at the sight of the sparkling beach and deep blue water in front of him.

"It is quite wonderful, isn't it Zara-chan?" Amelia agreed.

"I guess you were right, Amelia. It _is _pretty nice." Lina acknowledged.

Zelgadis and Gourry were farther behind them. "Why did _we _get stuck carrying all of this stuff?" Gourry complained, struggling with a bunch of beach supplies.

"It's not a big deal." Zelgadis replied, though he was having trouble carrying everything himself. "Lina's just too lazy to carry anything herself, and Zara is too little to really be of much help."

"What about Amelia? She actually offered to lend a hand." Gourry pointed out.

"Well, Amelia is... she's just..." Zelgadis searched for an excuse. "...she's just so helpful all the time, she doesn't have to do everything. Give her a break."

"Okay, I see." Gourry said sympathetically. He probably wouldn't have asked Lina to help carry the things even if she wasn't very threatening.

The two of them found a good spot and set up some beach chairs and an umbrella. Lina, Amelia, and Zara were already walking toward the water. "It's so blue!" Zara said, amazed.

"It is quite pretty." Amelia said. She turned to Lina. "You look pretty too Miss Lina." She said smiling.

Lina was surprised. If anything, she was the one who was a bit jealous of Amelia, though she'd never admit it. "Heh, yeah of course I am." She said condescendingly. "I'm sure every guy on this beach will be interested in that gorgeous girl with the red hair. They'll all want to hang out with me, just watch." Lina bragged.

"Oh, I'm not sure that's such a good idea Miss Lina." Amelia said.

"What? Why not?"

"Well..." Amelia began, "I don't think that Mister Gourry would like the competition all that much."

Lina coughed, surprised. Gourry? Competition? Where the heck was Amelia getting that idea?

"Huh? Did you say there's going to be a competition? I like competitions. Oh, except for test competitions. I'm no good at tests." Gourry made his way to Lina and Amelia, having caught the last part of Amelia's sentence.

"Idiot! What did I tell you about butting into conversations that you're not part of!" Lina yelled, startled.

"I... I don't really remember..." Gourry said.

Lina groaned. "It's too bad that jellyfish don't live in lakes. You could've gotten the chance to hang out with some friends who're on your own level of intelligence."

"Yeah," Gourry laughed, not offended by the intended insult, "but that's okay. I have _you._"

"You sure do. Lucky me." Lina mumbled sarcastically.

"Wee! This is fun!" Zara laughed, splashing around in the water. Lina did a fantastic job of avoiding his splashes.

"Do you know how to swim?" Lina asked casually.

"Sure do! But I can't really swim when the water's only a few centimetres deep..." He observed. Lina laughed.

"That's true, you really can't." She replied, doubting his swimming skills. He did say that he'd never been to a beach before.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia called out. "Is the water cold?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Lina asked, taking a handful of the frigid water and thrusting it over Amelia's head.

"A-ack! Miss Lina that _is_ cold!"

Lina and Zara both laughed, however Zara's was more good-natured, friendly laughter. Lina's was just downright inconsiderate.

"Too bad for you I know some water spells!" Amelia replied. She thrust out her hand and sent a spray of magically charged water at Lina. The sorceress splashed deeper into the lake.

"You won't get away that easily! RAY WIND!" Lina called out. The spell under Lina's control created a giant whirlpool, which she threw in Amelia's direction. Amelia was drenched in the incredible burst of water. Lina laughed proudly, until she felt a hand grab her shoulder and dunk her underneath the water as well. She came up sputtering.

"Gourry!" Lina yelled angrily. He stood over her laughing.

"Hey, this is kinda fun, huh Lina?"

"I'll show you fun, idiot!" Lina yelled, tackling her companion into the lake. Zara and Amelia laughed in return, joining the water fight as well. Soon, all four of them were soaking wet, splashing around, and having a great time. Zelgadis watched from a beach chair under one of the umbrellas, buried in a book that he had brought along.

_I swear, their immaturity never ceases to amaze me. _He thought to himself, though he almost wished that he could join them.

Almost.

The chimera returned to his book, oblivious to the sounds of splashing and spell casting he could hear. Lina was being vicious about it, and so Zara, Amelia, and Gourry had all teamed up against her. This only made her more angry of course. Zelgadis had just made it to the next chapter when a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, um, Mister Zelgadis..."

He didn't even have to look up. He recognized the voice and the formalities.

"What do you want, Amelia?"

"Well, you just looked sort of lonely over here. Don't you want to came and join us? It's lots of fun." Amelia persuaded.

"Not particularly." He replied, still not looking up.

"Um, oh. Okay. I see."

Zelgadis was taken by surprise at the amount of disappointment in Amelia's voice. He had assumed that she was simply asking him out of her justice-loving ways, not wanting someone to be left out. It didn't occur to him that she might have actually _wanted _him to come.

"But if you do want to come and play with us, you're always welcome, Mister Zelgadis." She said as she left.

Zelgadis put his book down and watched her go, pondering her offer just a little bit. But he knew that he wouldn't go. He watched the four friends for a little while, their crazy antics sending sprays of water up at one another. And, as angry as Lina acted, they were all still laughing and having fun. Zelgadis wondered how long it had been since _he'd_ had fun like that. _Not since I was still..._He didn't finish the thought. In his mind it only cemented the fact that he couldn't join them. After all, chimeras were created for magical combat, not childish water fights. Perhaps if he were human, then maybe he could...

"Ah, Zelgadis is certainly enjoying his vacation I see."

Zelgadis turned around furiously. "Y-you! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just taking a break. Monsters need vacations too, you know." Xellos replied, winking playfully.

The chimera was not amused. "But at a beach? Humans always have fun at the beach- wouldn't that hurt you?"

"Oh, my friend, but there are plenty of awfully unhappy people at a beach as well. That's why I'm hanging around with _you_, isn't it?" 

Zelgadis was taken aback."W-what do you mean by that? I'm perfectly happy!"

Xellos smiled. "Is that so? You seem to be staring at your friends quite forlornly."

"Pfft. I am _not_. I'm just sitting here enjoying my book! See?" Zelgadis thrust the book forcefully into his face to emphasise this fact.

"Erm, Zelgadis?"

"What?"

"You're holding the book upside-down."

...

"I knew that. I'm... trying to learn to read upside-down. It's a useful skill." Zelgadis covered.

"So I see..." Xellos replied. He sat down beside the beach chair. "Do you mind if I build a little sandcastle? I've always wanted to try that. It seems like fun."

"Knock yourself out." Zelgadis sighed as he turned irately back to his upside-down book. "Just stay quiet."

"Okay then." Xellos said, and went to work making a pile of sand.

When he was sure that Xellos was occupied, Zelgadis turned his book back over. _So much for my vacation..._

Lina and her friends were now playing keep away with a beach ball that they had brought.

"Here Mister Gourry! Catch! Don't let Miss Lina get it!" Amelia called as she tossed the ball toward her tall companion. He caught it, but Lina lunged at him in an attempt to grab the ball. Gourry held it teasingly over her head, just out of her reach.

"You! Give! Me! That! Ball! Now!" Lina yelled between jumps. Amelia and Zara laughed. Lina was not amused. "Oh yeah? Levitation!" The sorceress jumped up and easily grabbed the beach ball from Gourry's grasp.

"H-hey!" He yelled as he chased after her. Amelia and Zara followed, still laughing. Lina ran a little way down the beach, but was suddenly caught off guard by an incoming volleyball.

_WHACK!_

Lina doubled over, grabbing the projectile that had hit her squarely on the head. "Who was the annoying sap who threw this at me?" A group of boys around a volleyball net yelled to her.

"Hey, could you throw that back to us please?"

Lina was angry now. "Here! Take that!" She yelled, hitting the volleyball with an incredible force toward the boys. The watched in amazement.

"We need her on our team!" one boy said.

"No way! We saw her first!" One from the opposing team argued.

Amelia, Zara, and Gourry caught up to Lina, and the boys who had been playing volleyball approached them. "Are these your friends?" a boy asked Lina.

"Unfortunately." Lina replied.

"Do you guys want to join our game? It'd be even better with more people." He requested.

Lina looked at Gourry and Amelia.

"That sounds like fun!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure does." Gourry agreed.

"Count me in!" Zara chimed.

The boys considered Zara for a moment. "Wow kid, you're really eager... but... you're just a bit... small..."

"What? Really?" The little boy questioned. He was used to being treated (almost) as an equal by his companions. He'd somewhat forgotten the fact that he was only three and a half years old. "What can I do then?" Zara asked.

"You could be scorekeeper... um, can you count to eleven?"

"I can count over a hundred!" Zara said smiling.

The boy that Zara had answered laughed. "That's great, but we only play to eleven, okay?"

"Got it!" Zara answered, happy to have a position.

"So you guys can join our teams..." the boy said looking at them, his voice trailing off. "Ah, but we already have an even number of players... and there's only three of you..."

Lina shrugged. "Don't worry. I'll get us another player." She walked back in the direction that they had come.

"M-Miss Lina, you're not talking about..." Amelia called, but Lina didn't pay any attention.

"Yo, Zel! Get over here and play some volleyball with us!"

Zelgadis looked over the cover of his book in Lina's direction. "What did you just say?" he asked.

"I said to get your butt over here and play some volleyball! We need another player." Lina called forcefully.

Zelgadis turned back to his book. "No thank you." He replied.

"Come on Zel!" Lina yelled, running up to him. Amelia was close behind.

"I'm not joining you little game, Lina. I'd rather just sit here and read."

Lina stared at him angrily. "Why can't you just have fun for a little while? Why are you so difficult all the time? And... just what do _you_ think _you're _doing?" The last question was not directed at Zelgadis.

"Sandcastle building! What do you think?" Xellos replied cheerily, poking his head out of the deep hole he had already dug.

"What kind of self-respecting monster builds sandcastles in his spare time?" Lina asked annoyed.

"That is a secret."

"That's no secret! It's you, you idiot!"

Amelia turned to Zelgadis. "Uh, would you please come play with us, Mister Zelgadis? It would be more fun with you there, and I'm sure you'd be really good at it..." She looked hopefully at him.

Zelgadis sighed. It was impossible to refuse such a polite, admiring question, especially when it came from Amelia.

"I suppose that I could play a game or two..." He said, putting down his book.

"Really? You would?" Amelia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

"I guess so..." He replied.

Lina finally stopped yelling at Xellos, and turned back to Zelgadis angrily. "Oh, so you'll do it when _Amelia _asks, but not me, huh?"

"Amelia asked nicely. You didn't ask at all. You simply ordered me around. I don't appreciate that." Zelgadis explained. Of course, he might have been just a bit less reluctant to respond to Amelia's requests over Lina's.

"Well, whatever. You're going to play anyway, so let's get going." Lina grabbed the unenthusiastic chimera's arm and dragged him back to the area where the volleyball net was set up.

"Wait for me Miss Lina! Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia called, running after them.

Zelgadis was not happy. He figured that the boys couldn't help staring at him, but they could at least be a bit more... subtle about it. They had been trying to whisper, but he picked up on their conversation anyway.

"Who's that guy in the red shirt?"

"I guess he's their friend."

"He looks kind of creepy if you ask me."

"Yeah, no kidding. What do we do?"

"How 'bout this? Whichever team gets the red-headed chick takes that guy too."

"What? Are you serious?"

"It's only fair."

"Oh man, alright."

They turned around to Lina and her friends again. One boy pointed to Lina and Zelgadis. "You two are joining our team. The other two are on their team." He pointed to the other side of the volleyball net. "Okay?"

"Alright! Let's take 'em down! Right Zel?" Lina enthused. Zelgadis nodded uninterestedly. He just wanted to get this over with. Hanging out with that sandcastle-building monster had been better than _this._

"M-Mister Zelgadis..." Amelia sighed reluctantly. She had imagined that they would split up the way they normally did, Lina with Gourry and her with Zelgadis. Of course, the boys didn't know that, and Amelia hadn't heard their conversation earlier. (If she had, they would have been treated to one of her lengthy Justice speeches.) Gourry sensed her disappointment, and felt sympathetic. He certainly didn't want to be on a team opposite to Lina and Zelgadis either. They were going to get _crushed._

He put his hand on his small companion's shoulder supportively. "C'mon Amelia. This'll be _fun!_" Gourry said with a smile. Amelia grinned back.

"You're right Mister Gourry! Let's have the most fun possible!" She exclaimed in her Justice-speech voice.

"That's the spirit!" He said back, happy that Amelia was feeling better. He didn't like it when any of his friends were in a bad mood (although with Lina that was at least 75% of the time.)

"Alright, their team gets the first serve." One of the boys said, tossing the ball to Lina and Zel's team. The kid on the back row caught the ball and prepared to hit it back. He served and the ball went flying over the net.

"Get it Mister Gourry!" Amelia called. Gourry backed up a bit and hit the ball back to the other side.

"All right! Good hit!" His teammates agreed enthusiastically.

"Now it's my turn!" Lina yelled. Jumping up into the air, she smacked the incoming ball as hard as she could. It went flying down the beach. "Yeah!" She yelled in triumph.

"Point." Zara announced, gesturing to Gourry and Amelia's team.

"Wha-? What do you mean 'point?' I just hit the ball like 20 metres!" Lina protested.

"Yeah. It's out." Zara explained. The boys who were originally playing agreed with him.

"You've got to be kidding! How the heck do you score then?" Lina was angry, but that didn't change the rules. If she got angry enough, Lina could probably bend them a little, but she wasn't at that point yet.

One of the boys on Amelia and Gourry's team took the ball and served it over the net.

"Zel! Get that!" Lina called. Zelgadis jumped to hit the ball, and sent it spiralling down faster than the other team could react.

"Point!" Zara called again, this time pointing to Lina and Zelgadis' team. "It's one to one."

The boys on both teams stared at Zelgadis with new eyes. They had been too creeped out by his appearance that they hadn't taken the time to wonder whether or not he was a good athlete. It now seemed that he was even better at this than Lina...

"No fair..." One boy from the opposing team muttered.

**15 minutes later...**

"Point! Winners! Game score is eleven to... two." Zara called out, getting used to his job as the official scorekeeper.

"Yeah! All right! We won!" Lina cheered enthusiastically. It had been quite a victory. The only other time Gourry and Amelia's team had scored was when Lina hit the ball out of bounds... again.

Zelgadis just sighed. "Could I go back to what I was doing before?" He asked.

"Hang on, we want a rematch!" One of the boys from the other team said. "But, could we switch up the players a bit?"

"Sounds good." The others replied. Zelgadis groaned. Why had he let himself get into this?

"Amelia," one of the boys said, having learned their names during the game, "why don't you swap places with Lina?"

"Alright!" Amelia replied happily switching places with Lina. "Look like we're on the same team this time, Mister Zelgadis."

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied, somewhat less irritated than he had been before.

The two teams were pretty evenly matched. Often, the ball would be hit back and forth so many times before one team actually scored, that Zara would forget what the score had been before, and began writing out the score in the sand to keep track.

Eventually, the game came to a close. "Point! Winners! Game score is eleven to ten!" Zara called.

"What? No! It was too close! I want a rematch, darn it!" Lina yelled. Gourry sighed. He knew that Lina would get worked up if they lost. She was a pretty sore loser.

"Did you see that? We actually won this time! I told you you'd be good at this, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia enthused, hugging her friend.

"You were just as good, Amelia." He replied, somewhat flustered by her compliments. He didn't exactly reciprocate her gesture, but he didn't attempt to separate himself from her grasp either.

"No way! You were amazing. I guess all your training comes in handy outside of battle too." She said, releasing him.

"Hey! Are we going to have that rematch or what?" Lina called.

"Oh no! Look at the time!" One of the boys had a watch and was looking at it unhappily. He turned to Lina and her friends. "I'm sorry. We were supposed to meet some of our friends on the other side of the lake and we're late now. Some other time, okay?" The boys picked up the volleyball and began to leave. "Thanks for the great games!" They called.

"Thanks so much for letting us play with you!" Amelia called back politely.

"Anytime!" The boys replied, leaving.

Lina sighed angrily. "Alright, now what? Is anybody else hungry? Who wants some ice cream?"

"Me!" Gourry volunteered.

"Hooray! Ice cream!" Zara exclaimed.

"Sounds good to me, Miss Lina!" Amelia agreed.

"I think I'll pass." Zelgadis said, heading back to his beach chair.

"Do you want us to get something and bring it back for you, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia offered.

"No, thank you." He said, waving her off.

"Hmph. Be that way." Lina mumbled as Zelgadis walked off.

"What happened to my chair?"

Zelgadis stared at the carefully designed wall surrounding the place where his chair and umbrella had been. Xellos poked his head over the sand fortifications.

"Oh, welcome back Zelgadis. I'm sorry, but I have built a fortress and claimed your beach chair as a stronghold for the monster race."

"...What?" Zelgadis couldn't tell whether the monster was kidding or not. Of course, it wasn't much of a fortress- he could have easily knocked over one of the walls with just a simple kick. But with Xellos, you could never be sure.

"Could I please have my chair back?"

"No."

"Xellos!" Zelgadis clenched his fist to keep himself from strangling the annoying monster right then and there.

"This is a fortress for monsters only. No humans allowed... or human-chimeras either." Xellos said playfully.

"Could I at least have my book back?" Zelgadis asked impassively.

"Of course you may." Xellos tossed the book over the sand walls back to Zelgadis. "Here you go." He said.

"Thanks." Zelgadis muttered, silently cursing at Xellos and his immaturity, and left to find a nice place to sit down. A nice place very far away.

Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zara returned with their ice cream. Lina and Gourry had ice cream cones piled high with every flavour of ice cream imaginable. Zara had a simple chocolate ice cream cone, and Amelia had a strawberry milkshake.

"That's not ice cream." Lina teased.

"It is too!" Amelia defended. "You look like you're either starving, or completely indecisive."

"The first one, I assure you." Lina replied, licking her ice cream.

Zelgadis looked up from his book to see his friends approaching. "Oh, you're back already?"

"Yeah. Um, Zel... why are you sitting on the ground? I thought you had a chair." Lina replied.

Zelgadis sighed irately and gestured to the sand edifice some distance away. "Xellos turned it into his _fortress_." He said.

"What the heck is THAT?" Lina yelled. "I'm going to give that senseless monster a piece of my mind! Hold my ice cream for me, Amelia."

Her friends watched her go. "Uh, should we follow her?" Gourry asked hesitantly.

"No." Zara replied first. He was still wary of Xellos and wanted to avoid him as much as possible.

"Zara's probably right. Whatever Lina's going to do to Xellos is something I don't want to be a part of."

Zelgadis agreed.

Amelia nodded. "I agree with you there, Mister Zelgadis."

"Hey! Xellos! What the heck do you think you're doing?" Lina called angrily, as she approached the sand walls.

"Ah! Lina! What do you think of my fortress?" He replied pleasantly. Lina was angry and annoyed, both of which pleased Xellos.

"Fortress? Seriously? Let me in there!" She demanded.

"I'm sorry Lina, but this is a fortification for the monster race. I can't allow any non-monster personnel to enter."

Lina glared. "I'll show you a monster! FIREBALL!" She succeeded in destroying the main walls of the fortress.

"Ah! I spent all morning working on that!" Xellos said sadly. "Oh well, I think my vacation has lasted long enough anyway, I should get going. Goodbye, and thanks for the fun, Lina! We should do this again sometime!" He got up as if to teleport away.

"Hey, wait a second! Why are you always coming around to annoy us? And don't you _dare _tell me that it's a secret!"

"Why constantly annoy you, hmm? Let me think... I suppose it's because you're the second most fun person to annoy that I know." He replied with a mischievous smile.

"You idiot! I ought to- wait, second?" Lina stopped herself. "Who's the first?" She was curious. There was someone Xellos liked to annoy more than her? It didn't seem possible.

"That. Is. A. Secret."

"What? Why you!" Lina tried to grab Xellos as he teleported away, laughing. "Dang it. That idiot..." She muttered. "Hmph. Second most fun person to annoy... probably just because I don't have a mace like _someone_..."

On the other side of the lake, the group of boys was busy playing volleyball with some other friends. One boy spiked the ball and hit it out of bounds. It went flying through the air and landed... directly on top of a small sandcastle. Needless to say, the castle was devastated, along with the child who was building it.

"Oh man, you knocked over some little girl's sandcastle!" One of the boys accused.

"Hey! Sorry about that, kid! Could you toss the ball back to us?"

The little girl sat, her dark pink eyes tearing up as they looked at her destroyed castle.

"M-my castle..." She stammered. "You... you destroyed it..."

"Gee, we're really sorry about that... could we please have the ball back?" The boy asked gently.

Lorelei picked up the volleyball and turned to face the boys. Her humiliating defeat from the previous chapter still fresh in her mind, she was in no mood to have her things destroyed- by humans no less.

"You destroyed my sandcastle..." She murmured, "...so now I'm going to DESTROY YOU!"

Lorelei dropped her little-girl act and returned to her monster form with the wings and piercing red eyes. The boys stood for a moment, staring in fear. Suddenly aware of the situation, they screamed and ran down the beach as fast as they could.

"You aren't getting away so easily!" Lorelei yelled as she chased after them.

Lina had resumed the previous game of keep-away with her friends, though this time it was Amelia that they were keeping the beach ball from.

"Lina! Catch!" Gourry tossed the ball at Lina, who caught it and ran in the opposite direction of Amelia.

"Come back here, Miss Lina!" Amelia called, chasing after her.

"Zara! Don't let Amelia get the ball!" Lina said, taking a sharp curve and throwing it in the direction of the 3-year-old who was nearly the same height as the ball.

"Got it!" He laughed, grasping the ball. Amelia turned to him.

"Zara-chan, could I have the ball please?" She asked in her most polite voice.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because Lina said so." The little boy replied firmly. To him, the red-haired sorceress' word was as good as the law.

"Then I guess I'll have to take it from you!" Amelia laughed, running toward Zara playfully.

"Gourry! Catch!" Zara yelled, tossing the ball toward his tall companion. His throw was not very strong, and Amelia intercepted it.

"I got it!" She said triumphantly.

The commotion between the friends calmed as they stopped playing for the moment. "Alright, who's turn is it now?" Lina asked. She looked up the beach a little way and saw a group of people running. "Hey, aren't those the boys that we were playing volleyball with this morning?"

Gourry, Amelia, and Zara turned to look. "You're right, Lina. Do you think they want another rematch?" Gourry asked.

Lina didn't have time to respond, as the group caught up to them. "Look out you guys! There's a monster after us!" They yelled frantically.

Lina and her friends exchanged a glance. Zara hid behind Lina at the mention of the word 'monster.'

"Y-yeah, she..." One of the boys began, but then turned around in terror at the sound of a shrill voice behind them.

"Well, what do you know? You guys have done me a big favour- you've lead me directly to just the person I wanted to see. We meet again, Lina Inverse."

Lina stared in disbelief at the monster who stood in front of her. "Lorelei! You're still alive?"

"Haha! Of course, silly human! You thought that you could get rid of me so quickly? I _am _a monster after all."

It was the third time Lina had heard her say that, and wondered if it was some sort of catchphrase. This girl seemed incredibly proud of her race. Lina thought that it was more like arrogance than pride, though.

"So, are you here to try and kill me again?" Lina asked angrily.

"Of course I am! But I'm not going to get my hands dirty _this_ time." The monster replied.

"Oh?" Lina wondered just what Lorelei meant by that.

"Hmph! Just watch!" Lorelei smirked at Lina and her friends and then... began to sing.

In contrast to the sound attacks that she had used before, this song had a melody, beautiful and haunting. Lorelei stood with her gaze fixed in a trancelike state as her song seemed to echo off the water. Lina and her friends were transfixed as they listened. It was like nothing they had ever heard before.

Lorelei stopped, and turned back to Lina with a satisfied smile on her face. "Well, what did you think?"

"Just what was that?" Lina asked.

"Yeah, no offence, but your voice is way too pretty to hurt anyone with." Gourry added.

"Are you so sure of that?" Lorelei smirked.

The water in the lake beside them began to bubble. Lina and her friends turned and looked at the creature that was beginning to surface.

"A high-level monster such as myself would definitely have the ability to summon other monsters. And with this lake here, there would certainly be something that I could use to kill you."

The lake monster that had surfaced appeared like a giant squid, with dozens of writhing tentacles, and glaring eyes. "Now lake monster, attack them!" Lorelei commanded.

"Oh crap." Lina cursed. "Now what do we do?"

The monster attacked, blindly following Lorelei's orders. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zara had to jump around to avoid the strong tentacles.

"Hey, Jellyfish-brain, isn't this your area of expertise?" Lina asked.

"No. This isn't a jellyfish, it's a squid." Gourry replied.

"Yeah." Zara added. "Jellyfish are scyphozoans, this thing is obviously a cephalopod."

"I'm not even going to ask how you _know _that..." Lina mumbled, glaring at the 3-year-old who seemed to be too smart for his own good.

"I underestimated his power last time. That was a big mistake." Lorelei said, glancing at Zara with a look that conveyed admiration and fear.

"Well, that's a compliment to me." Lina said proudly. "After all, I taught him everything he knows. You wanna show that overgrown squid what you're made of?" She asked Zara.

Zara stepped forward, hesitantly. "Alright..." he began, holding his hands out. Lorelei looked almost frightened as she prepared to see what kind of attack he was going to use. "...FIREBALL!"

...

A few sparks.

...

"Heh...heh..ha..AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lorelei burst out in fits of laughter. "THAT was your attack? You couldn't even ignite a campfire with those sparks! So that incredible Dragon Slave that you used last time was... a fluke? Hilarious!"

Zara took a step back. He was hurt and scared, and didn't have the slightest idea what was going to happen. Lina was enraged, at Zara for not being able to attack, and at Lorelei for laughing at her student! That monster wasn't going to get away with that!

"Gourry, I'm going after Lorelei! You take care of that squid thing!" Lina yelled.

"With _what_? That monster broke my sword, remember?"

"Amelia will back you up!" Lina pointed out.

"Miss Lina is right! We've got to do something about this monster, Mister Gourry!"

Gourry nodded. "Alright. Go ahead, Lina. We've got your back."

Amelia threw a few attacks in the direction of the monster's main body, but it used its tentacles to deflect them. Amelia took notice of this. "I've got to do something about those tentacles!" She said. "ELMIKIA LANCE!" The princess' attack was aimed at a large tentacle, and hit its target with precision.

Unfortunately, the limb that had been severed, grew back even larger- and lunged for its target. Amelia was wrapped tightly and couldn't move. "Let... me go... you will... face... Justice..." she attempted to threaten the monster while still held in the death grip. She couldn't breathe, and was being crushed. In only a few seconds she would be...

_SLASH!_

The tentacle was severed again, releasing its grip on Amelia. She fell frantically, trying to catch her breath for a levitation spell, but she didn't need to. A pair of strong arms caught her, subjecting her to a firm grip akin to the monster's, but far more benevolent.

"M-Mister Zelgadis!"

"Be _careful, _Amelia." Zelgadis said sternly, placing her back on the ground. "That thing may not be very powerful on its own, but the person who summoned it _is_."

Amelia nodded. "But what can we do then?"

"We have to try a group approach. I can use my spells for now, so Gourry, take my sword." Zelgadis said, handing his weapon to his friend.

"You're letting me borrow this?" Gourry asked.

"As long as you don't break it." Zelgadis replied.

"Got it." Gourry wasn't used to Zel's sword, but it was strong and in good condition. It was just what the swordsman needed to fight the monster.

While Zelgadis, Amelia, and Gourry fought the squid monster, Lina concerned herself with fighting Lorelei.

"So, you're going to take me on, eh?" Lorelei asked. "Good. This should be fun." Materialising her staff again, Lorelei dove at Lina, trying to strike her. The sorceress was agile, however, and knew some spells of her own. The two shot their own spells back and forth at each other, in an evenly matched battle of wills.

"_Ray Wind!"_

"_Shadow Pulse"_

"_Fireball!"_

"_Freeze Arrow!"_

"_Flare Arrow!"_

"_Dark Wing!"_

Lina dodged the last bit of Lorelei's most recent attack. The monster had used some attacks that were unfamiliar to Lina (as opposed to the Freeze Arrow, which was all too familiar) and Lina had a hard time evading them.

"Now I'm done playing around." Lina said harshly. There was an explosion behind them, and Lorelei gasped in dismay.

"M-my lake monster! They've annihilated it!" She cried.

Gourry waved in Lina's direction, with Zara sheltered beside him. "Now's your chance!" He called.

"Right!" Lina replied, and began to chant. "_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."_

Lorelei backed away just a bit, recognising the incantation, but there was nowhere for her to go.

"_Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I posses! DRAGON SLAVE!_"

Lina's attack was directed solely at Lorelei, and hit its target and nothing else. Blasted far away, there was no evidence that the little monster had ever been there. Well, besides the crushed volleyball.

"Stupid monster..." Lina mumbled. "Why do I get the feeling that she's going to be bothering us constantly?"

"I have a bad feeling about this. She's obviously working for someone." Zelgadis observed.

"What makes you say that, Mister Zelgadis?"

"Think about it. That girl is too childish and impetuous to make plans that would involve tracking down and killing one particular human, even if it _is_ Lina. She must be working for someone... most likely someone stronger than herself."

Lina nodded. "But why do they want _me_?"

"Who knows..." Gourry shrugged. "Say, does anybody want more ice cream?"

"I'll race you there!" Lina volunteered, and took off down the beach, with Gourry and Zara following after her. Zelgadis and Amelia watched them go.

"Those two never change, do they?" The chimera remarked.

"Yes, and Zara-chan seems to be picking up on their mannerisms too." Amelia agreed.

"I kind of feel bad for his parents when we find them. He lost all memory of them, and on top of that, he's been hanging out with a bunch of wierdos."

"Weirdos?" Amelia asked. "Like who?"

"Like me. Lina. Gourry."

"And not me?" Amelia asked.

"Amelia, you're the most normal person in this group, besides Zara."

"I am not! I'm just as crazy as the rest of you!" Amelia defended. Zelgadis had to admit that normal people did not stand up and make lengthy speeches about Justice and whatnot...

"I suppose you're right. You'd have to be pretty crazy to want to hang out with us in the first place..."

Amelia smiled. "And I am just that crazy." She said. "Now are you going to get some ice cream this time, or am I going to have to make you share mine? Because I will."

Zelgadis didn't doubt it. "I guess I'll get my own."

"Good." Amelia replied, and the two walked down the beach after their friends.

A torrid Lorelei sat unhappily in the forest surrounding the lake, her head bowed in subordination. A deep voice communicated with her via telepathy.

"_This is the second time you have failed me, Lorelei."_

"I know Master... I'm sorry... I just..." Lorelei's voice trailed off.

"_I get the feeling that you don't really _want_ to kill Lina Inverse."_

"Well, erm, to tell the truth... she's actually an interesting human, and quite amusing if I do say so myself... I don't really know why she needs to die..."

...

"_But you want to see your father again, correct?" _

"M-MORE THAN ANYTHING!" Lorelei sobbed, her eyes begging to tear up.

"_Then you will do as I tell you. Destroy Lina Inverse."_

The voice disappeared. Lorelei sat dejectedly in the grass, clutching her staff, trying not to cry.

"Lina Inverse isn't a bad human... but if she stands in between me and my father... she must be destroyed."

-Aah, poor Zara and your rudimentary knowledge of binomial nomenclature. Don't you know that cephalopoda and scyphozoa can't be directly compared? One is a _class _and the other is a _subphylum. _Tsk Tsk. *slapped in the face with Lina's slipper* Haha, sorry, I deserved that. The fact that a 3-year-old could actually pronounce those words, much less know what they are, is pretty impressive. This chapter is the longest one yet, and was seriously fun to write! I enjoy the A/Z fluff. But next, Lorelei is planning to step up her game a bit... what about trapping the main characters in a mountain blizzard? Expect a switch from summer to winter, that's for sure! R&R! :3-


	7. 7: Freeze! The harsh mountain blizzard!

-I apologise for the delay! I've been so busy lately! I'm in a play and we have practices and such... At least I've memorised all my lines! Anyway here's the next chapter! This is one that I particularly like, probably because it has more pairings and such. Anyway, enjoy! :3-

**7- Freeze! The harsh mountain blizzard!**

"Linaaaa! I'm cold!" Zara whined.

"Dang it, how can you be cold, kid? You've got long sleeves and pants? I'm here in short sleeves and I'm not cold." Lina snapped back.

"I heard that little kids are sensitive to cold weather." Gourry offered.

"They're _over_sensitive if you ask me." Lina groaned.

"It was your idea to take this shortcut in the first place, so whatever happens is your fault." Zelgadis pointed out.

"Well that stupid map never told me that we'd have to climb a mountain! It just told me to follow this path- and what do you know? We're on a mountain!" Lina yelled back, staring warily at the precipice on her left. To make up for the time that they had lost by going to the beach, Lina had insisted on taking a shortcut that she had heard about from someone in the last town they had visited. "Hey navigator, what does the map say now?" She asked.

Gourry looked at the map that he was carrying. "Uh, it loops around a lot, probably because of the mountain. There's a sharp curve ahead, but the rest looks pretty easy to follow."

"Let me see that." Lina said, scrutinizing the map. "Well, what do you know? It's _not_ upside-down this time. You seem to be getting better at reading maps. I'm impressed." She gave her companion a pat on the back, but with Lina it was more like a slap, and Gourry stumbled forward, losing his grip on the map. He tried to grab it as it fell, but by the time he reacted, it was already too far over the cliff face to safely do anything about. Lina and Gourry stood and watched it fall.

"Gourry?"

"Yes, Lina?"

"YOU IDIOT! YOU DROPPED THE MAP!" Lina slapped her friend angrily. "Now we might get lost and it's all your fault!" Lina grabbed Zara's hand and began walking forward.

"B-but Lina! You were the one who-" Gourry called after her, but Zelgadis stopped him.

"It's no use." The chimera advised. "It was her fault, but Lina's not the type of person to take the blame for something like that."

"M-Mister Zelgadis is right. Miss Lina w-would only get angrier if y-you accused her." Amelia added, catching up to Gourry and Zel.

"Amelia, are you okay?" Gourry asked, noticing Amelia's broken speech.

"F-fine, Mister Gourry. I just agree w-with Zara-chan. It is p-pretty cold out here." Noticing the concerned stares from her friends, she continued. "Oh, don't worry. I'm f-fine. It'll take more than a l-little cold weather to bring down a warrior of Justice- aahcho~!" A sneeze was added to the end of her sentence.

"Here."

Amelia looked up in surprise, and then down at the tan cloak that had been placed around her shoulders.

"Mister Zelgadis?"

"Chimeras don't get cold as easily... I figured that you could use that more than I could... It'd be bad if you got sick..." He explained, turning to continue on the path.

"Oh, thank you so much, Mister Zelgadis!" She said gratefully, running up to him and grabbing his hand. He looked at her, surprised, but didn't say anything.

"Lina, why are we stopping?" Zara asked as Lina paused to wait for her friends.

"Because those friends of mine are slackers and won't pick up the pace." Lina explained. "C'mon! What are you guys waiting for?"

"We're coming Miss Lina, Zara-chan!" Amelia called, joining her companions.

"Finally. Took you long enough. And Amelia, why are you wearing Zel's cape?"

"Well, Mister Zelgadis let me borrow it because I was cold." Amelia explained , tugging at the cape that was dragging the ground.

Lina sighed. She didn't like Zel's depressive attitude all the time, but what she liked even less was how he could be so ill-tempered towards other people, and so nice to his precious Amelia. Not that he'd ever call her that. Lina almost wondered if Zelgadis noticed this himself.

"Fine, but we need to get moving." Lina said. "For some reason it feels like it's getting even colder, and I don't like the look of those clouds." As Lina said this, a few large snowflakes began to fall.

"Hey, it's snowing!" Amelia exclaimed. "I knew it was cold, but not _that_ cold."

"Why do I seem to have the uncanny ability to cause precipitation to fall on cue?" Lina wondered out loud, remembering the thunderstorm that they had encountered about a week ago.

"Hey Lina, do you think it's safe to continue on this path now?" Zelgadis asked. "These mountain passes are dangerous even in good weather. This snow could make things even more risky."

Lina shrugged. "I bet it'll blow over soon. The people at that village said that it was too early in the season for blizzards. Those usually happen later in the year." She continued walking and explaining. "And I also want to make it to the next town as soon as possible. The map- which we no longer have, thanks to Gourry- said that it was just on the other side of these mountains. We could probably reach it by nightfall, which will save us the trouble of having to camp on the mountain."

"It _would_ be nice to sleep in a warm bed, instead of having to camp on this cold mountain." Amelia agreed, watching the flurries as they became larger and more abundant.

Lina grinned happily, seeing that Amelia had agreed with her. Zel couldn't argue now.

"So do we just keep following the path?" Gourry asked.

"Yep. You're still the navigator, however stupid you might be. Lead the way, Jellyfish." Lina replied, following him. She only did this because there was one path- impossible to get lost on. She wouldn't have trusted him to get them anywhere otherwise.

A pair of red eyes watched them through the thickening flurries.

_This ought to be good. Have fun freezing to death, Lina Inverse._ Lorelei sneered mischievously.

Lina's assumption about the snowstorm passing was as far off the mark as it could possibly be. The snow didn't stop, but actually got harder as they walked. The wind whipped violently and the snow made it impossible to see anything. The friends made their way through it, but it was slow going. In such a bad snowstorm, they couldn't even see their hand in front of their face, much less the others. As the navigator, Gourry was at the front, and when he found a small cave in the rock face beside them, he didn't hesitate to take shelter from the storm.

"Lina! Zel! Amelia! Zara! There's a cave over here! We can get out of this storm for a while!" He called and made his way in, waiting for his friends to follow.

"That's one serious snowstorm. So much for not occurring until later in the season."Zelgadis mumbled, as he entered the shelter of the cave, brushing snow off his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll say." Gourry replied. "Speaking of which, where is Lina? Lina! LIN-"

Lina grabbed Gourry's arm. "I'm right here, idiot."

"Ouch, Lina your hands are cold!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, I wonder why that is?" Lina asked, her voice full of sarcasm. "My gloves got drenched, so I took them off to see if that would make my hands any warmer, but it didn't work. Now I don't want to put them back on because they're cold and wet." She shook out her snow-drenched gloves angrily.

Gourry grabbed Lina's hands in an attempt to warm them up. "There, that better?" He asked.

"No- your hands are cold too, genius!" Lina replied, snatching her hands back and hitting him over the head with a glove.

Zelgadis looked anxiously out into the howling blizzard. "Amelia! Zara!" He called, but got no response. "Do either of you know where Amelia and Zara are?" He asked turning to his companions.

"They were right here just a minute ago." Lina said, looking around.

"Yeah, but where is here?" Gourry asked.

"Idiot! It's your fault that we don't know! You're the one who dropped the map!"

"Well, I wouldn't have dropped it if you hadn't hit me!"

"I did not hit you!"

"You certainly did!"

"That was a gesture of approval for doing something good! Just when I thought you might be getting better, you go and do something stupid like this!"

"Maybe you just don't know your own strength!"

"Well, maybe you're just-"

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOU TWO TO BE ARGUING!"

Lina and Gourry turned around quickly. Zelgadis was usually so calm, but they could see anger and fear flaring in his eyes.

"Geez, Zel, there's no reason to get so worked up. Chill out." Lina replied, still a bit surprised.

"That's not funny, Lina!" Zelgadis shot back.

Lina paused for a second, realizing what she had just said. "Oh, uh, sorry. No pun intended, seriously. Just calm down alright?"

Zel turned his attention back to the snowstorm and considered it for a moment, trying to regain his composure. "Amelia and Zara are out in that somewhere..." He finally mumbled.

"I know." Lina said solemnly. "We just need to figure out what to do, alright?"

"We have to go find them!" Zelgadis replied turning to leave the cave, the panic returning to his voice.

"Wait, Zel!" Lina called, grabbing Zelgadis' sleeve. "It's dangerous. We need to figure out what we're going to do before going back out there."

The chimera turned a heated glare back at the sorceress, but realised that she was right. Going back out without knowing what to do would only endanger themselves as well.

"So what do you suggest we do?" He sighed reluctantly.

"We've got to think like Amelia and Zara. What would they do if they got separated from us?" Lina asked.

Gourry thought for a moment. "Zara would probably cry if you weren't there with him, Lina."

"That mindless little kid. He'll freeze his face if he does that." Lina replied. "But Amelia will protect him., and if worst comes to worst, he'll be able to protect Amelia too."

"But what if they got separated?" Zelgadis asked the question that had been in the back of Lina and Gourry's minds, although they didn't want to acknowledge it. The thought of Zara all alone in the dreadful snowstorm, scared and lonely, gave Lina a terrible sinking feeling that she wasn't sure what to do with.

"Zara doesn't like to be alone. He's usually clinging to someone, and since he's not here, he's obviously clinging to Amelia." Lina reasoned.

"Yeah, that's right." Gourry agreed.

Zelgadis was not entirely convinced, but imagining Amelia out in the blizzard with the little boy was better than imagining her alone. He couldn't stand the thought of the princess stuck in a blizzard by herself...

"Amelia would protect Zara at all costs." Zelgadis said firmly. "She would not let a person- especially a little kid- get hurt. That we know for sure."

Lina nodded. "But where would they have gone? Would they have kept on the path?"

"Maybe they just didn't see us duck into this cave." Gourry suggested. "Perhaps they're just ahead of us a little way. We could catch up to them easily."

"And then what? Drag them back here?" Lina asked.

"Well, we can't exactly keep following the path like this." Gourry replied.

"Then let's go find them before they get too far ahead." Zelgadis suggested, eager to get out and search.

"Lead the way, Zel." Lina said.

"Amelia? Wh-where are L-Lina and Gourry and Z-Zelgadis?"

"I don't know, Zara-chan. S-stay close though. We'll f-find them, don't w-worry."

Amelia and Zara hadn't gotten separated, as Zelgadis had feared, but were clinging to each other for warmth and comfort as they frantically searched for their friends. The cold and dampness of the blizzard was beginning to get to them and they were vigorously shivering. Even Zelgadis' cape did little to shield them from the harsh winds and stinging cold of the snowflakes.

"I'm c-cold... and... tired..." Zara swayed as he walked. His voice trailed off into something indecipherable as he stumbled.

"Z-Zara-chan! You c-can't faint on me!" Amelia cried, steadying the boy as he slowly drifted from awareness. Amelia didn't have the energy to panic. The cold was wearing away at her consciousness as well, and she mumbled as she fell unconsciously to Zara's side.

"Justice will... certainly... prevail..."

The wind blew the tan and green cape around forcefully as the two motionless figures lay huddled beneath it.

"N-no sign of them..." Lina gasped, clutching the cold rock wall of the slightly larger cave for support.

"And still so c-cold..." Gourry added.

Zelgadis was silent, staring out at the snowstorm; it was still as strong as ever.

"You're not thinking of going straight back out, are you?" Lina asked hesitantly, holding a Fireball in her hand for warmth. Gourry was crowded around it as well. Zelgadis would have liked to warm up just a bit, but he was more concerned with the safety of Amelia and Zara to really care that much.

"If they're out there, then they could be in danger. They could get frostbite, or hypothermia, or worse..." Zelgadis clenched his teeth, not wanting to expound on what 'worse' could actually mean.

"Yeah, I know... but..." Lina didn't like to think that her friends were in trouble. She wanted to assume that they had also found a cave in which to wait out the storm, and that she should do the same. Once the storm was over, they could search again. But the way Zelgadis was putting it, it seemed like after the storm would be too late...

"Are you having fun yet?" A voice from above them asked. Lina recognized the high-pitched tone.

Lina and her friends turned around suddenly. Lina had the urge to throw the fireball she was holding, but decided against it.

"Lorelei! What are you doing here?" Zelgadis yelled angrily.

"Oh, just having a little fun in the snow. Isn't it beautiful? A dazzling blanket of pure white snow covering the world, turning a formerly drab mountain into a winter wonderland. It's certainly romantic, right?" Lorelei said dramatically. "Too bad your little girlfriend and that kid decided to get themselves lost."

"Y-you..." Zelgadis growled, not stopping to correct her on his relationship with Amelia. There was no time for that now.

"This blizzard, is it your doing?" Gourry asked.

Lorelei smiled. "Silly human. I _am _a monster after all. If one of my songs could summon a giant lake monster, then surely I'd have a song to summon a little snowstorm."

"A_ little_ snowstorm?" Lina exclaimed. "We almost froze to death!"

"That was the intention, silly." Lorelei said, waving a finger tauntingly.

"Wait! What about Amelia and Zara? What do you know of them?" Zelgadis demanded.

"What?" Lorelei looked puzzled. "Oh, those two? Err, I just figured that if they weren't here with you guys then they must be lost somewhere..." she then murmured to herself. "Oh crap, Master's going to get mad at me if he finds out that I let... oh never mind!" Lorelei turned back to Lina and her friends. "My main target is Lina Inverse! If you two would kindly give her to me, I'll spare your lives." She said, addressing Gourry and Zelgadis.

"Never!" Gourry yelled back almost before she had finished her sentence.

"That's right. We won't let you kill Lina." Zelgadis affirmed.

Lina looked at them, surprised that even the chimera had come to her defence. "Gourry... Zel..." She murmured. Turning to face Lorelei, she exclaimed "And you can be sure that I'm not going to let you kill me!"

"Agh, always such a pain." Lorelei said, unhappily. "All your same tricks again?"

"Perhaps." Gourry replied. "But _this_ is new, thanks to you." He drew a long, gleaming sword and held it ready to strike. They had found a new one in the previous village and he'd been practising with it. It seemed even better than his last one.

Lorelei looked at the swordsman, still grinning. "So, you did get a new sword, huh Jellyfish?" She asked, remembering a few previous insults from Lina.

Lina's eye twitched angrily. "What did you say?" She growled at Lorelei. "Shut up, birdbrain! I'm the only one who can call him that! FIREBALL!"

Lorelei dodged, surprised that Lina had gotten so angry. She realised that she must have hit a touchy subject for the sorceress and was somewhat pleased with herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was an insult, not a _pet name_." Lorelei said, smiling teasingly. "It's certainly more creative than something like 'dear' or 'sweetie.'"

Lina's face burned crimson. "N-no! It _is_ an insult! That guy has less brains than a jellyfish!" She defended, flustered. "But you just can't use it!" Lina shot a few more attacks at the monster.

Gourry watched, and tried to remember whether anyone other than Lina had ever called him a jellyfish-brain. It wasn't like her to stick up for him like this, but he didn't complain.

"Now you're going to get it! Time for my special new attack! FREEZE ARROW!" Lorelei sent a few freezing arrows at Lina which the sorceress dodged easily.

"A new attack? Hah! You used that last time! And for your information, I've had quite some experience with Freeze Arrows."

"Oh, but are you paying attention?" Lorelei asked.

Lina turned to the walls of the cave. The ice that had hit the walls was slowly growing, increasing in size as it consumed the cave wall. "It's.. it's... growing?" Lina asked.

"Of course. This special Freeze Arrow allows the ice to consume anything it touches. If I can hit you, then you'll be turned slowly into a block of ice. And once you're encased in ice, it's only a matter of time before you freeze to death!" Lorelei grinned.

"And once again, you're telling me this because you expect me to die in a few minutes." Lina said.

"I wouldn't tell you otherwise. That goes for you two as well. Now that you know my secrets, you must die too." Lorelei said to Gourry and Zelgadis. "Get ready!"

"Huh...wha...?" Amelia murmured as she began to wake up. She examined her surroundings, trying to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was Zara-chan fainting in the snowstorm, and then... Amelia realised that she was inside, lying on a couch in front of a fireplace. Zara was still unconscious, in a chair with blankets draped around him.

A voice behind her brought Amelia back from her reverie. "Ah, ya finally woke up." A woman's voice said.

Amelia turned to see an older woman who had entered from an adjacent room. "Oh, excuse me, but what happened?" She asked the woman.

"Ya don't remember? The two o' ya were out in that beastie of a snowstorm." The lady explained.

"Yes, but...I wasn't sure... did you bring us in here?"

"Aye. You two were in pretty bad shape. Ya had some traces o' frostnip, but the fireplace in here should've taken care o' that. I'm surprised that the little one didn't catch hypothermia. He's a hardy little one, isn't he? Is he yer brother?"

Amelia glanced at Zara, sleeping peacefully in the chair beside her. "No, he's just a friend of mine, but yes, he is very strong for a boy his age."

The woman nodded in reply. "I see. If ya don't mind me asking, what were the two o' ya doing out on the mountain in the first place? It certainly isn't the type o' place that young people ought to be alone."

"We were with some of our friends and were trying to take a mountain pass as a shortcut, but we got separated in the blizzard." Amelia replied. She reached for her shoulder to clutch at Zelgadis' cloak, but realized that it wasn't there. The woman noticed Amelia's evident dismay at the absence the object.

"Ya looking for that cloak that ya were wearing earlier? I set it up to dry, it was so cold and wet." The lady retrieved the tan and green cloak from the back of another chair by the fireplace.

"Oh thank you!" Amelia said, hugging the cape. "This belongs to one of my friends. It would be terrible if I lost it."

The woman nodded. "Well, ya should thank yer friend when you see 'em again. It saved your life, that thing did."

Amelia looked up, startled.

"I went to shut the door in order to keep the snow out, and heard somethin' blowing around in the wind. I knew that I hadn't left anything o' mine out in such weather, so I went out to investigate. I'm glad I did, turns out there was a little boy and a young woman out there, half frozen to death."

The princess gazed affectionately at the cape. "Mister Zelgadis..." She murmured. "I'll be sure to thank him when I... oh no! He's still out there! And Mister Gourry! And Miss Lina!"

"Eh?" The woman watched as Amelia ran over to the chair and gently shook her young companion awake.

"Amelia?" He asked dazedly.

"Zara-chan! Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, and Mister Zelgadis are in trouble!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Lina?" Zara hadn't been completely conscious, but hearing the sorceress' name and trouble in the same sentence brought him back to attentiveness.

"We've got to go find them!" Amelia said, making her way for the door of the house.

"W-wait! Where do ya think yer going? Ya can't just go back out in that!" The lady protested.

"I'm sorry miss, but my friends might be in danger! I have to help them! Thank you very much for saving us!" Amelia called.

"Thank you lady!" Zara added, as the two left the little house. The woman stood for a moment, and watched the figures disappear into the howling blizzard.

"...what on earth just happened?" She wondered out loud.

"FREEZE ARROW!"

Lorelei's attacks were getting harder and harder to dodge, as the cave floor and walls began to fill with ice. Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis had to be careful not to step on or touch any of the ice, or they would be encased in it and immobilised.

"Lina, what do we do now? We can't keep dodging- she'll fill up the whole cavern with ice!" Gourry asked, trying to keep his sword from touching any of the contagious ice.

"Give me a minute! I'm thinking!" Lina replied.

"Hey, Lina? Did you really mean what you said about calling me 'jellyfish?"

"Now is not the time to discuss that, idiot!"

Lina jumped around the patches of ice that were slowly spreading out over the cave floor.

"It won't be long before you're trapped." Lorelei taunted with an amused smile on her face. Lina Inverse and her friends were certainly fun to play with.

"We won't give up that easily! FIREBALL!" Lina tossed a Fireball at Lorelei, which the little monster effortlessly dodged.

"You'll have to be faster than that to hit me! FREEZE ARROW!" Lina stepped back to dodge the attack, but there was nowhere to go.

"Lina, look out!" Gourry jumped in front, deflecting the attack with his sword. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, fine, thanks. But... Gourry... your sword..." Lina pointed out. A thick layer of ice had coated the tip of the blade where it had repelled the attack, and was slowly spreading.

"Ah! No! Not my sword! It's new too! Get off! Get off!" He yelled, madly trying to brush the ice off his weapon. Instead, the ice continued to grow, and covered his fingers as well. "Aah! Now it's on my hand! Get it off! Get it off!" Gourry exclaimed, waving his hand around in a futile attempt to dislodge the ice shards.

"Gourry! Quit it! You're making it worse!" Lina shouted.

"Aww, it looks as if Lina Inverse's little jellyfish is trapped. That ice won't stop growing until it has completely consumed its victim. But don't worry. If you hand yourself over to me, I'd be able to spare his life. With a bit of memory loss, of course. What do you say, Lina Inverse?" Lorelei bargained tauntingly.

"Don't do it Lina! I can manage!" Gourry called, as he held his sword in his good hand, and tried to cut the ice off his arm with it. He was not having much success.

"Gourry's right! We've got to focus on beating Lorelei!" Zelgadis agreed.

Lina bit her lip as she watched Gourry struggling with his weapon. She constantly reminded herself that they'd gotten out of worse fixes than this, but she didn't have the slightest clue what to do in this situation. If only Lorelei wasn't so good at dodging attacks...

"You monster! I'll take you on!" Zelgadis continued, drawing his own sword.

"Hah! Just try and scratch me!" Lorelei teased.

"With pleasure." Zelgadis lunged at the tiny monster, his sword aimed to strike, but Lorelei was too fast for him.

"Freeze Arrow!" Lorelei shot an attack at Zelgadis, but he was also adept at dodging. "Say, you're pretty fast for someone whose skin is made of rock. But might I make a suggestion to pay attention to where you dodge next time? If there _were_ going to be a next time, that is."

"Wha-" Zelgadis tried to move, but found that his shoes were stuck fast to the still-growing sheet of ice on the cavern floor. He tried to break free, but the ice was too strong.

"Oh, now the chimera is down too." Lorelei observed, with a false innocence. "This is your last chance to save them, Lina Inverse. Otherwise, I'll just have to kill all three of you."

"No, thank you. We've been able to pick ourselves out of worse situations than this." Lina said boldly. The sorceress had just gotten an idea. Lorelei was good at dodging attacks because she could fly around in the relatively spacious cavern. But deeper into the cave, the passages became narrower. If Lina could chase her deeper into the cave, then...

"Hey! You want me, right birdbrain? Well you'll have to catch me first!" Lina took off down the cave passage with a Fireball in her hand for light.

"Wha? Get back here you!" Lorelei yelled, following Lina down the dark passageway.

"Don't worry guys! I'll be back to thaw you out eventually! Don't die while I'm gone!" Lina yelled, half teasing, half dead-serious, to her friends.

"Lina..." Gourry murmured as he watched her leave. "I hope you know what you're doing. Don't die either."

Lina ran as fast as she could down the natural corridor, her Fireball lighting the way. Farther and farther... it didn't seem to stop. She finally arrived at a smaller chamber, which was a dead end. If she was going to face Lorelei, it would have to be here.

"You're pretty quick for a human. You can run as fast as I can fly." The piercing voice behind Lina said. "But there's no running from your death anymore, Lina Inverse."

"Oh, are you so sure of that?" Lina asked the monster, turning around.

"Certainly. FREEZE ARROW!" Lorelei shot nonstop attacks at the sorceress, who had a hard time dodging.

"Oh, yeah? Well, fire melts ice! FLARE ARROW!" Lina shot back.

For what seemed like an eternity, the two fired trivial spells back and forth, neither able to breach the other's defences. It was an endless game, and the two were so evenly matched that it seemed that neither of them would win.

"Getting tired yet?" Lorelei huffed as she prepared another Freeze Arrow.

"No on your life." Lina replied with a determined smile, though she was speculating how long they could keep this going. It was just like the first time that they had fought. Lina wondered why Lorelei didn't use that Shadow Bond attack that she had used before. It occurred to Lina that Lorelei wanted to win using her special Freeze Arrows, without relying on her staff. She was like a child playing with a new toy. And despite her intelligence, the tiny monster was just as childish as she appeared.

Lorelei fired a barrage of Freeze Arrows and Lina rushed to dodge them, but she wasn't quite fast enough. An ice shard settled itself on her hand. She remembered Gourry, and didn't attempt to brush it off. It would only make things worse.

"Finally! The infamous sorceress Lina Inverse meets her end!" Lorelei sneered.

"I-I'm not down yet!" Lina said, getting back up, determination visible in her eyes.

"Of course. I know that you're doomed and everything, but you don't have to worry. I'm going to make sure you're dead before I go anywhere. I could kill you off right now, but after all the trouble you've put me through, I think I'll just watch you become consumed in ice. That should be interesting. Oh, and if you try to get out of it, I will destroy you right then and there." Lorelei threatened, grasping her staff and created a ball of dark energy, which she threateningly aimed at Lina.

Lina looked up at the monster, the ice making its way up her hand. "I can still perform spells for now, but she's not going to let me. I just need a distraction... something!"

"L-look Zara-chan! It's a cave! Do you think that they came in here? There are footprints..." Amelia asked as she and Zara entered the icy cavern.

"Look at the ice." Zara said, pointing out the crystals on the walls of the cave. They looked as if they had been growing over the walls and suddenly stopped...

Amelia continued farther on while Zara still stared at the icy patterns that decorated the walls and floor of the cave. They would have been quite beautiful if it hadn't been so cold. Zara's thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream. He recognised the voice. "Amelia! What's wrong?" He called, but as he turned his attention farther into the cave, he didn't even have to ask. Amelia stood, staring at the two motionless figures.

"M-Mister Gourry... M-Mister Zelgadis... they've been... frozen solid!" Amelia looked around with a worried glance. Whatever had done this, it hadn't been natural. "We've got to thaw them out!" She said, determinedly and began a heat spell.

"What about Lina? Where is she?" Zara asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure where Miss Lina is." Amelia said, chipping away at the melting ice surrounding Gourry's sword.

Zara looked around hesitantly. "That way! Lina went that way!" He yelled, pointing down the passageway leading deeper into the cave.

"Miss Lina is down there?" Amelia asked. She trusted Zara's judgement, but it seemed a bit strange.

"I'm sure! I have to find her!" Zara exclaimed, taking off down the dark passage.

Amelia watched him go. "Be careful! Mister Gourry, Mister Zelgadis, and I will join you as soon as we can!"

Zara nodded, and continued running toward where he knew Lina was.

When Zelgadis opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that it was no longer cold in the cave. The ice on the walls and floor had been melted. And, of course, the ice that he had been sealed in was melted as well. The cave might have been warmer, but he was still recovering from being frozen, and shivered violently. Suddenly, he felt something placed over his shoulders. Zelgadis looked quizzically at the tan cloak, eliciting a response from the person he hadn't realized was standing next to him.

"I guess you're the one who needs this more right now, Mister Zelgadis."

"Amelia!" He gasped, standing up next to her.

She smiled. "I'm glad you're okay. You scared me for a minute when I saw you frozen. I thought that mayb-"

She was unable to finish her sentence as the chimera crushed her to his side. "Don't _ever_ get lost like that again." He demanded. Amelia said nothing, she simply nodded.

"Huh? Where am I? What happened?" A confused voice asked. Zelgadis released Amelia, almost reluctantly. The two joined Gourry, who was looking around, confused.

"Amelia? Zel? What are you doing here? It's not cold. Are we dead?"

"Far from it, Mister Gourry!" Amelia enthused. "You were frozen solid just a few minutes ago, but now you're alright!"

"Yes, but how exactly? And how did you get here? Where were you?" Zelgadis asked, curious now that he'd gotten over his initial relief of seeing her alive.

"Zara-chan and I got lost in the snowstorm. A nice lady who lives on the mountain helped us out, and we started looking for you. When we found this cave, we found you two frozen, so I used a heat spell to thaw you out." Amelia explained.

"I see." Zelgadis said, nodding.

"But where is Zara now? And Lina?" Gourry asked, looking around.

"Zara-chan said that Miss Lina went down that way." Amelia said, pointing farther into the cave.

"He's right! Lorelei chased her that way. But what happened to them?" The swordsman replied, beginning to panic.

"We won't know unless we go after them." Zelgadis replied. "Come on."

"Right, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia agreed, following him.

"Wait for me!" Gourry called.

"I could kill you off right now, but after all the trouble you've put me through, I think I'll just watch you become consumed in ice. That should be interesting. Oh, and if you try to get out of it, I will destroy you right then and there." Lorelei had said.

Lina needed a distraction. Something to draw Lorelei's attention away from her for just a moment in order to regroup and fire a spell. She just needed something- anything!

Suddenly, Lina's distraction appeared. "H-hey! What are you doing to Lina?"

The sorceress was just as surprised as the monster. "Zara? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"That kid! Well, you're obviously not dead, so that's a good thing. But you can't interfere! This is between me and Lina Inverse!"

Lina listened, wondering why Lorelei was happy that Zara was alive. But it didn't matter- Zara was just the distraction that she needed.

"You can't hurt Lina!" Zara said, definitively.

"Hah, silly human. She is already as good as dead. Isn't that right, Lina In-"

"FIREBALL!"

Lorelei was slammed against the wall of the cavern. She stared up in astonishment. "B-but, how-"

"FLARE ARROW! ELMIKIA LANCE!"

The small monster was bombarded by powerful attacks. She suddenly realized that she had lost control of the battle. _It's all that little boy's fault! Dang it! _She cursed.

"Now, it's time to teach you a real lesson." Lina said, cornering Lorelei. "_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond-"_

"No! No! Stop!" The tiny monster begged. "I'll leave for now, but don't expect me to let you win so easily next time." With that, Lorelei teleported away, leaving no trace of herself behind. With the magic source gone, the ice on Lina's arm returned to normal, and she brushed it off.

"Hmph. That coward." Lina scowled. She then turned around as Zara hugged her tightly.

"Lina! I couldn't find you! I missed you!" He cried.

"Uh, missed you too...?" Lina replied. "How did you get in here?"

"Amelia and I found the cave, and Gourry and Zelgadis too. I knew you were here, so I came to find you."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I just did."

"I see." Lina replied. "Well, I suppose we should find the others and-"

"Miss Lina! Zara-chan! Are you there?" Amelia's voice called.

Amelia entered the small chamber, followed by Zelgadis and Gourry.

"Amelia! Zel! Gourry!" Lina greeted them, glad to see that her friends were no longer frozen.

"It's Miss Lina and Zara-chan!" Amelia enthused, seeing her friends. Zelgadis nodded in their direction.

"Lina..." Gourry said grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "Lina, you're okay!"

The sorceress slapped her protector over the head with one of her slippers. "Oh really? I hadn't noticed. Thanks a lot mister state-the-obvious."

Gourry made a fast recovery. "Zara, you're okay too!" He said, hugging the little boy who was very happy to see him.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Zara assured him.

"What happened here, anyway? Where is Lorelei?" Zelgadis wondered.

"Oh, don't worry. I scared her off. She wasn't so brave when I threatened to Dragon Slave her face off." Lina shrugged. "So, are we just going to stand here, or are we going to continue what we were doing before this stupid blizzard hit?"

Amelia nodded. "Oh right! It's getting late! But if we hurry, we can still probably make it to the town on the other side of the mountains."

Lina grinned. "Alright, let's get moving. Lead the way, navigator."

"Huh?"

"That's _you_, Jellyfish."

"Oh, right."

It was dark as they followed the rest of the path, but the clouds had disappeared and the moon illuminated their path sufficiently. Amelia and Zelgadis were walking ahead, while Lina, Zara, and Gourry were farther behind. The group walked in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"...Mister Zelgadis?"Amelia broke the stillness.

"Hmm?" He asked.

She tugged at his cape, which she was wearing again. "Um, I just wanted to... thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving me."

Zelgadis looked at the girl with a puzzled expression. "Wha... what do you mean? If anything, _you're_ the one who saved _me_, remember?"

"No, I mean..." Amelia looked back up at him. "...you let me borrow this cloak. When Zara-chan and I got lost, we fainted in the snowstorm. The nice lady who rescued up said that she would have never found us if she hadn't seen your cape first. So it was thanks to you that she found us. So thank you."

The thought of his two friends unconscious in the terrible blizzard horrified Zelgadis, and he shook his head to clear his mind of the thought. They were safe now, so it didn't really matter.

"Amelia?"

"Yes?"

"Well, you don't need to thank me or anything."

"What? Why? You were the one who-"

"But _you_ saved _me_. Gourry and I would have stayed frozen and probably died if you hadn't thawed us out when you did."

"Oh, yeah." Amelia said, remembering. "So... I guess that just makes us even then."

"I suppose it does." Zelgadis smiled. Amelia grabbed his hand as they continued walking.

"Is he _asleep_?" Lina asked, pointing to the child that Gourry was carrying, perched on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. Zara had a pretty long day- we all did." Gourry replied.

"Hmph, that's for sure."

The two walked in silence again for a moment.

"Hey, Lina?"

"What's up?"

"Did you really mean what you said about calling me 'jellyfish?"

Lina cringed. He was bringing that up again. She secretly willed Zara to wake up and interrupt the conversation, but the three-year-old was sleeping soundly.

"Yeah, of course. I couldn't let her insult you." Lina replied.

"Why not?"

"Because, idiot, we might fight a lot, but as far as enemies are concerned, we have to put up a united front."

"Ah, that makes sense." Gourry nodded. "Uh, but what's a 'united front?"

Lina rolled her eyes. "It means that we stick up for each other, jellyfish."

"Oh, okay. Do you like sticking up for me?" He asked.

"Um..." Lina wasn't sure how to answer that. "I don't know. It depends. Do you like sticking up for me?"

"Lina, that's my life. I'm your protector."

"Oh. So you wouldn't help me out otherwise?"

"No, of course not. W-wait, yes. I mean no. No- I mean no that I wouldn't not help you if... ah! This is a confusing question!"

"Don't hurt yourself." Lina chided, watching his perplexity.

"No, what I'm saying is that, even if I wasn't your bodyguard, I'd still protect you."

"Why?"

"Well, because... you're... uh, actually I..." Gourry stumbled to find a way to phrase his answer without angering Lina.

"You what?" She asked hesitantly.

"Are we there yet?" A drowsy voice interrupted their conversation.

"Zara! You're awake!" Gourry said, lifting the boy off his shoulders. "Can you walk now?"

"Yeah, of course!" Zara replied.

Gourry placed the boy on the ground. "Come on! Amelia and Zelgadis are way ahead of us!" He said, running to catch up with their friends.

"Hey! Wait up for me!" Gourry called, following Zara. "Lina, come on!"

Lina watched them run. "What was he going to say...?" She wondered. "That idiot..." She called back out as she ran. "Hey! Wait for me! Don't leave me behind! I'm the one who chose this shortcut, remember! Get back here!"

-Poor Lina and Gourry, they got their moment interrupted. *sigh* I remember when I first told my brother this story, and at the "I guess that makes us even" part with Amelia and Zelgadis he actually said "awwww..." The made me happy because he's not into romance that much, and at the time I wasn't even sure if he recognised Amelia and Zel as a pairing. Speaking of my brother, the next chapter is going to feature a few OCs from his (unpublished) fanfiction. An old friend of Amelia's, Josiah is a professional chef, and has been asked to host a cooking competition in the town. When Lina and friends visit, they decide to try their hands at cooking too. Who wants to eat what Lina and Gourry cook? Not me... R&R! :3-


	8. 8: Food Fight! Playing with food?

-8 chapters already! I can hardly believe it! Today is Thanksgiving Sunday, so I wanted to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to all the people who have helped me and encouraged me while writing this! Triple thank you and hugs all around for everyone who has reviewed and commented on the story, especially PsychoSongtress(you may notice a slight reference to 'Pilgrimage to the Future' in this chapter) for all the support! Thank you guys!

I also want to thank my brother- the person who introduced me to Slayers in the first place- for letting me borrow his OCs for this chapter (Josiah, Caroline, and Chefa belong to him), and for helping me with cooking terms. He is a chef, while my cooking skills are basically on the same level as Lina and Gourry (seriously, I'm that bad!) So a special thanks to him for offering his expertise in this area. I'm going to have a few days off school this week, so expect rapid updates! Things really start to pick up speed in chapter 9. Thank you to everyone reading this! ~GP3 :3

Now, let's see if I can make a line-

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**8- Food Fight! It's okay to play with your food!**

Lina and her friends strolled around the village, watching people go about their late-morning errands. Marketplaces were selling all kinds of items, including food, which interested Lina and Gourry.

"Man, all this food looks really good!" Lina exclaimed.

"I know! It's making me hungry!" Gourry agreed.

"But, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, we just ate breakfast." Amelia protested.

"Don't bother, Amelia." Zelgadis advised. "You know how those two get. They've got bottomless stomachs."

Amelia nodded. "And then Zara-chan hardly eats anything. Right, Zara-chan?"

"I'm just not all that hungry." Zara explained. He had never eaten much in the short past that he could remember. He had gotten used to Lina and sometimes Gourry stealing food from him. It didn't bother him since he wasn't going to eat it anyway.

"I'm so glad that we got a good night's sleep after what happened yesterday." Amelia remarked, remembering the trouble that they'd had on the mountain pass the previous day. They had finally reached the town in time to get rooms at an inn. They had gotten a late start that morning, but they were glad for the extra rest.

Amelia walked forward, paying more attention to the marketplace around her than where she was going. Inevitably, she crashed into a person walking in the opposite direction. "Waah!" Amelia exclaimed as she fell. Zelgadis rushed beside her.

"Watch where you're going! Are you alright?" He asked, helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm so very sorry about that! I need to pay more attention!" Amelia rubbed her head, turning her attention to the person that she had run into, a boy no more than 16 or 17 with neat dark hair. He had dropped a basket that he was carrying, full of autumn produce such as squashes and pumpkins. He looked up at Amelia, a look of surprise on his face.

"Princess?"

"M-Mister Josiah? What are you doing here?" Amelia exclaimed, recognising the boy now.

"Huh? You know each other?" Zelgadis asked.

Amelia helped Josiah up, and then she and Zelgadis began to pick up the scattered squashes. The boy looked up at the chimera. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Zelgadis, correct?"

Zel nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're Josiah, right? How did you know my name?"

Josiah once again had a grip on his basket of produce. "Princess Amelia has told me about you. A _lot_ about you in fact." He said, smiling. Amelia blushed.

"I told him about you- and Miss Lina and Mister Gourry too! They're here with us, somewhere!" She looked around, trying to locate her other friends. "Oh there you are! Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, there's someone that you're _definitely_ going to want to meet! Zara-chan too!"

"Zara-chan?" Josiah asked, hearing a name the he didn't recognise.

"I'll introduce everyone, don't worry, Mister Josiah." Amelia assured him. "Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, Mister Zelgadis, this is Josiah. He may look young, but he is an accomplished chef and served as head chef for the Seyruun royal family for a time. His food is second to none! Isn't that right Mister Josiah?"

Josiah flushed slightly at all the compliments. "Well, 'second to none' is stretching it a bit, but yes, I did work for the Seyruun family, and yes, I do love to cook."

"A professional chef, huh?" Lina murmured with a greedy glint in her eyes. She walked up to Josiah and grabbed his hands with a warm, affectionate smile. "Wow, that's so amazing! You seem like a very talented person! Say, you're really kind of cute. How old are you?"

"Uh... seventeen..." Josiah replied hesitantly. This girl certainly fit the physical description of Lina Inverse that Amelia had given him, but she certainly didn't act like it. According to Amelia, Lina didn't warm up to people very easily, and she wasn't flirtatious by any stretch of the imagination.

"Oh well, two years' difference isn't so bad. I always did like younger men." Lina replied, in a pseudo-cheerful voice.

"You did?" Gourry asked anxiously.

"Shut up, jellyfish-brain!" Lina whispered stepping on his foot. "This guy is a professional chef who's worked for royal families! If I can get close to him, I'm certain that he'd be willing to cook something for me!" She turned back to the bewildered Josiah. "I'm sorry, you'll have to ignore Gourry. He's a bit of an idiot."

Amelia had an anime-style sweat drop, and Zelgadis rolled his eyes at Lina's blatant display of gluttony. That girl would do anything for something good to eat.

Josiah nodded, uncertainly. "Um, so I've heard... Any way- Amelia, you asked me why I was here, didn't you?"

Amelia nodded. "Yeah, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well," Josiah began, "they're having a big cooking competition here tomorrow, and they have asked me to come and host it. That's why I came." The young chef seemed to get an idea. "Hey, would you guys like to try your hand at cooking? I'm sure that you'd really enjoy it!"

"Us? Cook? Really? That sounds like fun!" Amelia agreed.

"Would you cook something for us when we finish?" Lina asked, still over-cheerful.

"Of course." Josiah replied backing away from Lina somewhat. "You guys are friends of Princess Amelia- and any friends of the Princess are friends of mine- so I'd cook something for you no matter what."

"No... no matter what?" Lina asked. "Well, in that case, the heck with this nice-girl act. You'd better make us the best food ever, or I will burn your face off, got that?" She threatened.

"The best food ever?" Josiah asked. He suddenly realised that the real Lina much scarier than the fake one.

Zelgadis frowned. "But Lina, I thought you wanted to get moving again today?"

"Well yeah, but how often do you run into gourmet chefs on the street who offer to cook for you? Come on, we can't let this chance escape! Right, Gourry?"

"Huh? What?" Gourry hadn't been paying much attention ever since Lina said that she was interested in younger guys.

"The food, jellyfish-brain! This kid here says that he'll cook us something! It's always been our dream to be catered to by a gourmet chef, right?"

"Oh. Oh! Yeah! I remember!" He said happily, realising that she'd just referred to the two of them together."Hey, but wasn't our dream to eat food from the future?"

"That was our _other _dream. The less realistic one." Lina said, giving her companion a whack over the head.

"Since when is getting catered to by a gourmet chef realistic?" Zelgadis mumbled to himself, but didn't say out loud. He didn't think that he even wanted to understand how Lina and Gourry thought.

Josiah listened to the conversation with chagrin. These people exactly matched the descriptions of them that Amelia had provided, but they were a bit scarier in real life. At least, Lina was. "Uh, should we get going now? Caroline and Chefa are waiting for me- they might get worried if I'm late."

"Caroline? That's your sister, isn't it?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm here with my twin sister Caroline and my best friend Chefa. I'll introduce them to you if you'd like." He smiled.

"That sounds great! Onward!" Amelia enthused.

...

"Josiah! There you are! We were wondering why you were late!" A girl the same age as Josiah, with long blonde hair nearly reaching her ankles, ran up to them as they entered the building. Lina wondered how the girl didn't trip on her hair. Even Gourry's wasn't that long.

"Caroline! There are people that I need to introduce you to. You remember when I worked in Seyruun? Well this is the Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun." He gestured toward Amelia, and Caroline made a small bow towards the princess.

Amelia blushed at the formality. She had gotten used to travelling with her friends, and had somewhat forgotten that she was royalty. "Please, just call me Amelia." She told them.

"Well then, Amelia, who are your other friends?" A voice from across the room asked. A blue-haired boy, who looked to be a bit older than Josiah joined the group.

"Oh, this is Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, Mister Zelgadis, and Zara-chan." Amelia said, pointing out each person.

"Lina? As in the infamous bandit killer Lina Inverse? Hmph, from what I've heard about her, I didn't expect her to be so..." The blue-haired boy searched for a descriptive word. "... non-threatening."

Lina's eye twitched. "Non-threatening? NON-THREATENING? I'LL SHOW YOU NON-THREATENING YOU... you..." Lina examined the boy for another moment. "...what are you supposed to be exactly? A dog?"

The boy's face paled. "D-dog..." He questioned. Lina had been referring to the pointed furry ears that were nearly hidden amongst his unruly hair, and his long silver tail that was almost obscured by his cape. "D-did you just call me a... dog?"

"Oh no..." Josiah muttered, burying his head in his hand.

"I think she just got on Chefa's bad side..." Caroline said anxiously.

Chefa bared his fangs at Lina. "I... am not a dog... I am a WOLF, darn you, A WOLF!"

"It's the same thing!" Lina shot back angrily.

"Same thing? SAME THING? Now look here! I'm not going to be told what is what by some childish, non-threatening, tiny, annoying,"

"Mister Chefa, please don't go there..." Amelia whispered to herself.

"self-centred, obnoxious, flat-chested sorceress!"

"He went there..." Gourry mumbled, knowing what was coming next.

Lina's hand clenched into a fist. "Did... did you just... call me..."

"So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?" Chefa derided.

"What am I going to do about it...? I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I'M GOING TO DO ABOUT IT YOU LITTLE-"

Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis grabbed hold of Lina, while Josiah and Caroline held back Chefa, in order to keep the two from killing each other. After all, each had sufficient provocation and magical abilities to do so.

...

Once Lina and Chefa's argument had subsided to simple, menacing glares shot at each other from across the room, Josiah introduced everyone to his twin sister and his best friend, who was actually quite polite and agreeable to everyone except Lina.

"Chefa's really nice, you just need to make sure that you don't get on his bad side." Josiah explained.

"Yeah, Lina gets on everybody's bad side. That's just how she is." Gourry replied, smiling.

"Well, she obviously hasn't gotten on _your_ bad side." Josiah remarked, remembering Gourry's anxiety when the sorceress had been flirting with him.

"Haha, yeah that's true." Gourry agreed.

Josiah stood up and addressed everyone. "Now, I actually wanted to ask you guys a favour."

"A favour?" Lina asked, suspiciously. She didn't like doing things for other people.

"Yes. You see, I already told you that I'm hosting cooking competition here tomorrow." He motioned to the cooking stations around the large building, each equipped with stoves, ovens, and other cooking supplies. "Caroline and Chefa are going to be acting as judges tomorrow, and I thought it might be a good idea if they got some practice. So I wanted to know, would you guys like to have a practice cooking competition right here?"

"A practice competition you say?" Lina asked.

"That sounds like it would certainly be interesting." Zelgadis replied.

"I think it would be fun!" Amelia agreed.

"Yeah! I like competitions! Except when they're tests..." Gourry added.

"Yay! Cooking!" Zara exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping his hands.

"Then it's settled." Josiah said with a smile. "The competition tomorrow will have teams of two, so we'll split up that way too."

"Wait. Are you going to participate? That wouldn't be fair, since you're a professional chef!" Lina accused.

"I was just going to participate for fun. I do love to cook." Josiah admitted.

"Alright..." Lina agreed. "But what are these teams that you're talking about?"

"Ah, yes, the teams." Josiah replied. "Amelia and Zelgadis can be a team, so that means that Lina and Gourry will be a team as well."

"That sounds great! Let's do our best, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia exclaimed.

"I guess..." The chimera replied. "I've always thought of cooking as a chore, not a fun activity, but I suppose there's a first time for everything."

"Come on Gourry! We're going to make the best food that Caroline and the dog have ever tasted!"

Chefa's eye twitched, but Caroline's firm grip on his shoulder prevented him from saying anything.

"What about me?" Zara asked Josiah with big, pleading eyes.

"Oh yeah. You. Let's see... you could be with me if you'd like. I can teach you some of the basics of cooking."

The three-year-old nodded happily. "That sounds great, Josiah!"

...

"Alright, the first dish that we'll be making is a Butternut Squash Bisque." Josiah said, holding up a ripe squash.

"A what? A squash biscuit? How the heck are we supposed to get that thing into a biscuit?" Lina asked.

"Yeah, it'd have to be really big, but it probably wouldn't be a very good-tasting biscuit." Gourry agreed.

Josiah buried his face into his hand again, already fearing for the sake of Lina's team. "Not biscuit, _bisque_. It's a type of soup."

"Oh. Why didn't you tell us that we were making soup in the first place?" Lina asked.

"Well, bisque isn't technically soup. It's thicker and creamier than soup, but not quite as thick as chowder." The chef replied, thinking that it explained everything.

"I don't get it..." Lina sighed.

"Don't worry, Miss Lina. I don't either. But as long as you follow the recipe in the cookbook, it should turn out alright." Amelia assured her.

Each team had a cookbook, a set of ingredients, and a cooking station. "Alright, you'll have an hour and a half to make your dish. Ready?" Caroline asked. The teams nodded. "Okay, then... begin!"

And with a wave of her hand, the competition started.

"Gourry, read the instructions from the cookbook!" Lina yelled, frantically trying to gather ingredients.

"It's not a race, by the way!" Josiah called to Lina's station from his own, as he was explaining to Zara the difference between slicing, mincing, and dicing.

"Shut up! You can't give me instructions! You're the enemy!" Lina shouted back.

"Um, Lina? What language is this book written in?" Gourry asked his partner nervously.

"Language? Let me see that!" Lina grabbed the cookbook. "You're holding it upside down, genius."

"Oh." Gourry said, taking the book back. "Oh! Alright! I can read it now! Let's see... it says to take... the squash... and... dice into... small..." He read slowly.

"Aww, the heck with this!" Lina replied, tossing the book aside. "It's soup, right? So that just means that we throw everything into the pot and cook it!"

"Oh! Okay!" Gourry replied, filling the pot with water and placing it over the stove. In a few seconds the water began to simmer.

"Now for our main ingredient." Lina said, picking up the whole squash. She placed it into the pot, sending up a spray of hot water. The squash did not fit completely into the pot, and the majority of it was sticking up out of the water. Lina looked at it awkwardly. "Come on! Get in there!" She tried to push the squash further into the pot, but it wasn't possible.

"I think we're supposed to cut it." Gourry said, staring at Lina who was still struggling with the pot.

"Cut it? With what? We don't have a knife that big!"

"Uh... we could use my sword."

"That would work!" Lina exclaimed. "For once you actually had a good idea, jellyfish!"

Gourry blushed at the unexpected praise. "Thanks!"

Amelia and Zelgadis were having much more luck than Lina and Gourry, probably because they were actually following the recipe in the book. Amelia was peeling potatoes and keeping an eye on the water to make sure that it didn't boil over. Zelgadis was busy cutting the squash.

"Wow Mister Zelgadis, you're really good at this." Amelia observed. "You're slicing so fast. Be sure that you don't cut your fingers or anything."

"Uh, Amelia, I think we'd be more worried about breaking the knife in that situation." Zelgadis replied.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologise." He said. He realised that Amelia had actually forgotten that he was a chimera, and focused on the fact that he was using a sharp object and could have gotten hurt. Blushing slightly, he continued. "I don't eat all that much, but travelling on my own has given me at least some experience cooking. I've never known anyone who did it for fun, though. Josiah is certainly interesting."

Amelia nodded. "Mister Josiah does love to cook. Food is his life, and it really shows when he cooks. I hope you'll try some of his food. You'll really like it. Do I put these potatoes in now, or wait a little while?"

"You should put them in now. Potatoes take a bit longer to cook, I think."

"Alright. And... what are Miss Lina and Mister Gourry doing?"

Amelia and Zelgadis could hear assorted shouts coming from their friends' station.

"Gourry! Watch where you're swinging that sword! Ack! Stupid squash thing!"

Zelgadis stared in incredulity. "They're using his sword to cut the squash? Didn't that thing already take enough of a beating in the snowstorm yesterday?"

"Well, you've got to give them points for creativity." Amelia said, smiling.

"More like stupidity if you ask me." Zelgadis replied scornfully. "Hey, is that- Amelia! The soup's boiling over!"

"Oh!" Amelia lunged for the simmering pot, but Zelgadis was faster and removed the lid of the pot to reveal an enormous cloud of steam.

"There. That's better." He said, once the water level had returned to normal.

"I could have done that. It was my job to watch it after all." Amelia replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, but you could have burned yourself."

"Well so could you- oh, yeah. Right. Sorry again." She had once again forgotten that he was impervious to ordinary dangers that one would encounter in a kitchen.

"No more apologies, Amelia. We've got a soup to cook." Zelgadis said with a reassuring smile.

"Right!" Amelia agreed happily.

Watching from a high window, a third person was smiling. But her smile was not one of kindness. It was a malicious, mischievous smile. "A cooking competition, eh?" Lorelei asked herself. "Sounds like fun. Who says you can't play with your food?"

...

"Erm, Lina, Gourry... what did you put in this bisque?" Caroline asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"Well, let's see..." Lina began, but her voice trailed off and she whispered to her partner. "Gourry, what exactly did we put in the soup?"

"You expect _me_ to remember? You were just grabbing random stuff and throwing it in." He whispered back.

"Oh, yeah... well in a time like this, we have no choice but to take advice from someone we'd never trust otherwise." Lina whispered to herself more than Gourry. Turning back to Caroline and Chefa, she replied with a big smile on her face "That is a secret."

Somewhere far away, Xellos looked up from his cup of tea. "I have the oddest feeling that someone is copying me..." He murmured.

Chefa's eye twitched. "A... secret?" He looked down at the lumpy soup apprehensively, and turned back to Caroline. "Ladies first." He gestured politely.

"Of course." Caroline said uneasily. She picked up her spoon hesitantly but then stopped. "Chefa, why don't we try it together? That way neither of us has a biased opinion based on what the other person said. It's only fair."

Chefa hadn't expected this, but he couldn't argue with Caroline's logic. They both tried a bite of the soup at the same time. Lina watched, smiling in expectation. "So, what do you think? Is it great or what?" She asked.

"Um, it certainly has a different flavour... I mean, not that it's really _bad _per se... but I think maybe that it better suits someone with a different palate than..." Caroline began.

"I'm going to go with 'or what." Chefa said, with a glare at Lina.

"What? We spent all this time working on that stupid biscuit and you don't even think it's good!" Lina growled.

"Bisque." Chefa corrected.

"Whatever!"

"Ah, why don't you two try the other team's dish." Josiah said, entering the conversation. "Princess Amelia, Zelgadis, what did you two make?"

"Here is our soup. It's probably not all that good, but we worked hard on it, so please enjoy it." Amelia placed the bowls of soup on the table. Chefa and Caroline were relieved to see that it actually looked the way that soup should look. Caroline smiled.

"It looks good." She assured Amelia.

"Oh, thanks. Mister Zelgadis did most of the work, actually. He's quite good at cooking." The princess smiled up at her companion.

"You did plenty of work too, Amelia." Zelgadis replied.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't let me do a lot. You were afraid that I'd get cut or burned or..."

"I- I was not!" Zelgadis stammered, blushing as Josiah flashed him a knowing smile.

Chefa and Caroline weren't sure what to expect, but their faces lit up as they tasted the soup. "It's actually really good!" Caroline said. "You got the perfect balance of the cream and the vegetables, and with a few spices thrown in that really accent the flavour. I'm impressed."

"I don't really understand what she said, but I guess she said that it was good." Amelia said to Zelgadis, smiling.

"It's very good." Caroline translated. "What did you think, Chefa?"

"Well, after what we just tried, I think anything would taste good, but you're right. It was a very well-made soup. Nothing like Josiah would make, but for two amateurs it is quite amazing. Well done."

Amelia was cheerful, but Lina wasn't. "Are you serious? What did their soup have that ours didn't?"

"Well, did you follow the recipe?" Josiah asked.

"What recipe? It's soup isn't it? You just throw everything into the pot and cook it, right?" Lina shot back.

"Oh my goodness..." Josiah began, his face in his hand again. Something told him that Lina and Gourry were better suited to fighting bandits than working in a kitchen. "Here, it's almost lunchtime. Would you guys like something to eat?"

"That depends. Are you making it?" Lina asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Then yes!"

Josiah went back to his cooking station and Amelia took a look at the bowl of soup that Zara was holding. "Wow Zara-chan. That's a beautiful bowl of soup." She observed. The soup itself was a deep brownish-orange, reflecting the main ingredient, and there were vibrant swirls of white cream topped off with a sprig of parsley.

"Josiah said that presentation is key." Zara replied, grinning. "The bisque has to reflect the colours of the ingredients. When plating it you should use the toppings to create an artistic design using complimentary colours to create aesthetic harmony. Josiah is really smart."

Lina's eye twitched. "This is great." She growled. "He's turning my student into an artist. Zara's supposed to be skilled in magical combat- not making soup look pretty!"

Josiah ruffled Zara's hair affectionately. "This kid is certainly bright." He observed. "He's got a knack for things in the kitchen. I'd love to take him on as an apprentice."

"Well, you can forget about that! I've already got that covered!" Lina spat.

"Oh, so he's your apprentice. I was wondering why a kid that small was travelling with you." Josiah replied.

"We can tell you the whole story over lunch." Gourry offered.

"If you remember it all..." Lina mumbled.

...

"So Mister Chefa, are you really a wolf?" Amelia asked as they ate lunch.

"Partially. I _was_ a wolf, so yes." He answered.

"So how did you become a human then?" Zelgadis wondered.

"Well, I'm not completely human. I still have the blood of a wolf, but I've been given a human form thanks to the sorcerer who gave me magical powers."

"So you _do_ have magical powers. I knew that I could sense something." Lina observed. "But why were you given powers and a human form? Who gave them to you?" Lina always enjoyed a good story, and this conversation was taking an interesting turn.

Chefa could see that Lina was getting interested, so he began his story. "When I was still a wolf, I was an outcast. I wasn't strong enough to be considered a member of the pack. I was lonely, and all I wanted was strength to prove my skill to the others. So I set out on a quest to get stronger, and one day I met a human sorcerer. He understood my problem and told me that he wanted to help me. He took pity on me and gave me some special magical abilities, along with this human form. I would have been overjoyed at this... but the magic came at a serious cost..."

"A cost?" Lina leaned in excitedly. Chefa's story was just getting good. The wolf noticed Lina's expression of suspense, and still feeling spiteful towards her, he continued.

"... well, it doesn't matter anymore! After all, that's in the past now. So, you had a story you wanted to share?" Chefa smiled.

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T JUST END IT THERE!" Lina yelled, whacking Chefa over the head with a slipper.

Chefa rubbed his head and laughed. "Sorry about that. You just looked so eager to hear it, I couldn't resist."

"Just continue, already." Zelgadis sighed. "What was this cost that you were talking about? Did the sorcerer tell you about it before he gave you the powers?"

Chefa turned back to the rest of the group. "The sorcerer told me that my quest for strength might have dire consequences, and he asked me whether I was willing to accept any stipulation that might come with these new powers. Of course I was young and reckless back then... I didn't know what I was getting myself into."

"Young and reckless, huh?" Lina asked. She and her friends were starting to see Chefa in a new light. He wasn't human, and his human form most likely didn't age the way normal humans would. Chefa was most likely much older than he looked. "But what was the cost? You just keep stringing us along!"

"I was getting there!" Chefa shot back. "Anyway, he gave me these powers with the stipulation that I could never feel happiness until I was defeated, or at least evenly matched in battle."

"N-never feel happiness! How cruel!" Amelia gasped.

Chefa shook his head. "The sorcerer told me that a person must taste defeat before they can truly benefit from their strength. So I was not able to revel in my newfound power. I suddenly realised that what I'd wanted in the first place was not strength, it was happiness. I'd wanted to be accepted, and thought that I could gain this acceptance with strength. But in the end I just ended up having my real aspiration taken from me."

"Need to taste defeat to truly benefit from strength..." Zelgadis murmured, remembering a person who had once told him the same thing. He clenched his fist at the memory. "Who... who was this sorcerer?" The chimera asked, fearing the answer.

Chefa replied. "I wasn't really acquainted with the human world at the time, so I didn't recognise him. Apparently he was rather well known back then... a magician who was called the Red Priest."

"Rezo." Zelgadis muttered. "Should have known..."

Chefa looked in surprise at the chimera. "You knew him?"

"We... were acquainted..." Zelgadis said, his voice trailing off.

"How old are you? I guess my memory might be faulty, but my encounter with the Red Priest was, to my knowledge, quite some time ago. More than a few decades at least." Chefa questioned.

Lina coughed, choking on the food she was eating. Did he just say 'decades?' How old was this guy, anyway?

"Rezo was very old, even when I knew him." Zelgadis replied, and then though for a moment. "As for me... I haven't really thought about my age much recently... I guess I'm at least 21 now..."

"I didn't know you were younger than me." Gourry said. He had always kind of looked up to Zelgadis as somewhat of a role model, at least as far as intelligence was concerned.

"I said 'at least..." Zelgadis corrected.

"Hang on, how did you break the spell?" Amelia asked Chefa. "I can tell that you did, because you act as if you're pretty happy now. Did you finally find someone who could defeat you in battle?"

Chefa nodded. "That's how I met Josiah and Caroline." He nodded in the direction of his friends. "They may not look it, but they've got some serious fighting abilities- enough to evenly match me when we fought. Since they were the people to break my spell after so many long years, I guess I felt rather attached to them and asked to follow them. Josiah was nice enough to let me come along with him, and we became friends very quickly."

Lina looked back at Josiah and his sister. "So you guys have some strong magic as well." She said.

Josiah flushed nervously. "Well, I try to save my magic for the kitchen, but when we met Chefa and he challenged us, we couldn't say no. I don't like fighting at all."

"Me neither." Caroline agreed.

"That's an amazing story." Amelia said cheerfully. "And it has such a happy ending too."

"What ending? This story is just beginning." Chefa replied, grinning.

"By the way, were you going to tell us about Zara?" Josiah asked Lina.

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me." She replied.

Lina told the whole story- about how they found Zara captured by a group of thieves who had stolen strange books from a library. They set out to find his parents, but realised that the journey would be harder than they thought. Getting advice from a wise lake dragon, they discovered that he was from a village called Mahoutskai, and aimed to take him there. That was when they ran into Zelgadis and Amelia. Lina left out the part about Lorelei. That was too confusing. The monster seemed to be acting as an assassin for someone else, but they didn't know who it was yet, or why they wanted Lina dead.

"Wow, that's an amazing story too." Josiah observed. "So I guess he's just a temporary student, not a real apprentice."

"Of course." Lina replied. "If I had to put up with that little brat full-time, I think I'd go crazy. One of us would end up getting killed, and you can bet that it wouldn't be me."

"Oh Lina, you don't really mean that." Gourry said.

Lina whacked him over the head. "Oh Gourry, I really do."

"Well, I suppose we should clean up and..." Josiah began, but he was cut off.

"What? You're not having dessert? How lame. Do I need to make a dessert for everyone instead?"

The chef looked up in surprise at the unfamiliar voice, belonging to a person he hadn't realised was there. "Wh-who are you? Where did you come from?" He asked. Suddenly, he realised that Lina and all her friends had stood up.

"Didn't you cause enough problems yesterday?" Zelgadis asked angrily.

"What are you talking about? You didn't enjoy my pretty snowstorm?" Lorelei asked innocently.

"Snowstorm? What snowstorm?" Caroline asked.

"It's a long story." Lina replied, and turned back to the monster. "You just can't leave us alone, can you?"

"Ah, but I must kill you if I am to complete my mission, Lina Inverse. Of course, since you won't cooperate, I'm forced to continually pursue you. What now? Are you so tired of me that you'll finally give up?" Lorelei cracked a mischievous smile.

"You can forget that idea! Are you so tired of losing every time we fight that you'll just leave me alone?" Lina shot back.

"No! Never!" Lorelei defended. "My goal is much too important to be put aside so simply! No matter how many times I am defeated, I am determined to complete my mission! I_ am _a monster after all!"

Lina sighed angrily. "You just had to put your little catchphrase in there somewhere, didn't you? Well, what is this goal that is so important that you have to kill me in order to achieve it?"

"I. Can't. Tell. You. That is classified information, I'm afraid."

"Classified? Says who?" Lina demanded.

"Says _me_! Now prepare to die Lina Inverse!" Lorelei grabbed her staff and chanted a spell under her breath that Lina couldn't identify. Lina braced herself for an attack, but it didn't come. Instead, the darkness surrounded the remainder of Josiah's squashes.

"M-my squashes! Just what do you think you're doing?" Josiah yelled. "Those are important! Butternut squash, acorn squash, delicata squash, spaghetti squash, hubbard squash, banana squash, and pumpkin are all part of the array of winter squashes that we'll be highlighting at tomorrow's competition! You can't do anything to them!"

"I didn't know there were so many types of squash." Gourry observed.

"There are lots of things that you don't know, Gourry." Lina replied.

"Hah! Mister Chef, you've just set yourself up for a really bad pun! Guess what? I'm going to squash you with your own squashes! Isn't that ironic?" Lorelei laughed hysterically. Lina watched in horror as the darkness-covered squashes arranged themselves into the form of a dark, spiderlike creature. "Now my squash spider! Go get Lina Inverse!"

"Darn it! She may act childish, but she learns from her mistakes and picks up on things fast. Now what are we going to do about that spider thing?" Lina thought out loud.

"Don't hurt the squashes!" Josiah yelled frantically, waving his hands in the air.

"I don't even think that's possible!" Lina shot back. "We've got to get rid of that thing somehow..."

...

The dark spider attacked, shooting out a dark web-like substance that coated the walls. Lina and her friends easily dodged the attacks, but Josiah and his friends were taken by surprise. The dark web hit Caroline and stuck her to a wall. She screamed.

"I- I can't move!"

"CAROLINE!" Josiah yelled with a frenzied look in his eye. He stood up to face Lorelei. "You... you can attack my kitchen... you can attack my squashes... but you CANNOT attack my SISTER! _DAMU BRASS_!"

Josiah was no fool. His attack was directed toward Lorelei, but the little monster could fly, and in the large space, she easily dodged the attacks. "Get him, spider!" She ordered.

Josiah tried to jump aside, but it was no use. The shadowy web pasted him to the wall beside his sister.

"Now it's my turn!" Chefa called. "_Transformation!" _At the incantation of the spell, his body glowed and morphed into the form of a large, grey wolf. His red eyes flaring, he pounced at Lorelei. She attempted to dodge, but he was fast and his fangs created a large rip in the bottom of her yellow skirt.

"My skirt!" She yelled. "You idiot! That colour fabric is really hard to find! I had to replace my hair ribbon a little while back thanks to Lina Inverse!"

"Don't blame me. Blame the person who made your costume." Chefa declared.

Lorelei's eye twitched. "You will blame my father for _nothing! _GET THAT WOLF!"

The spider followed orders from its master, quickly binding Chefa in the dark webbing beside Josiah and Caroline. Once trapped, he immediately returned to his human form. "H-huh? What? I'm human again?" He exclaimed.

"This stuff negates magic. Why do you think we haven't tried to escape yet?" Caroline explained.

"Huh, so it cancels magic, does it?" Zelgadis asked.

"Of course! I wouldn't bind you with a substance that you could easily escape from. What point would that have?" Lorelei asked with a twinge of sarcasm in her voice.

_This girl's a strategist, I'll give her that. _Lina thought. _Now we've just got to get rid of that spider thing. _"FLARE ARROW!" Lina shot an attack at the spider, puncturing several holes in the creature. The holes slowly regenerated however, and the spider became as good as new again. Lina clenched her teeth. So Lorelei had thought of_ that_ too.

"Wow! Regenerating squash! I need some of those in my kitchen!" Josiah said in amazement.

"Now's not the time to worry about that!" Lina yelled at him.

"Right, Miss Lina! We'll focus our attacks on the spider, and you go get Lorelei!" Amelia called. Lina nodded. The divide-and-conquer method had worked for them at the beach.

Zelgadis and Gourry drew their swords, and Amelia and Zara braced themselves to fire a magical attack if necessary. Lina pursued Lorelei.

The dark squash spider fired its attacks at the group. Zara, being fearful of the creature (as it had been created by a monster) was the first to take a hit.

"Zara, are you alright?" Chefa asked, trying with no avail to stretch his hand out of the dark webbing to comfort the little boy beside him.

"Yeah... but Lina!" The little boy replied. He was more concerned about the safety of the sorceress than his own.

"I've got this! A dark creature such as that will be no match for the power of Justice! ELMIKIA LANCE!" Amelia yelled as she virtuously attacked the beast. She aimed for the legs, hoping to knock the creature over, but unfortunately it was able to regenerate them in a short period of time. The dark arachnid lunged toward the princess.

"Amelia! Look out!" Zelgadis rushed to her side, his sword drawn protectively. Seeing a new enemy, the spider shot out a string of dark energy, trapping the two against the wall.

"Let us go!" Amelia yelled, trying unsuccessfully to escape.

"Stop Amelia, you'll just make it worse." Zelgadis advised. "There's got to be another way to get out of this..."

Lorelei nimbly dodged each of Lina's attacks that were fired at her, and Lina was growing more and more annoyed. That agile little creep! How dare she make such a mockery of the infamous Lina Inverse?

"Now let's see what my spider can do to _you_! Attack Lina Inverse!" Lorelei commanded.

With the princess and the chimera out of its way, the spider turned its attention on the red-haired sorceress. It pounced, leaping for its target, but instead was met with a sharp sword and sliced exactly in half.

"Gourry! Nice work!" Lina exclaimed.

"Hey, this thing cut that squash so well when we were cooking, I figured that it'd work well enough here too." Gourry responded happily.

"Yeah, and with that thing out of the way, the only one left to fight is..." Lina's voice trailed off as she noticed the two halves of the former squash spider. They were beginning to regenerate, and instead of one spider, there were now two- two that looked ready to attack. "Crap! Should've seen that coming!" Lina cursed.

"What do we do now?" Gourry asked.

"Attack them in the heart!" Josiah yelled, still plastered against the wall.

"The _what?_" Lina replied.

"The heart!" Caroline responded. "It's the point in which all of the magic that animates the spider is centred! If you can destroy the heart, then the creature can't regenerate!"

"Hey! How did you know that? That was supposed to be a secret you mean human!" Lorelei fumed. Now Lina Inverse was going to destroy her spider for sure!

"Gourry! We've got to find that heart!" Lina called to her companion.

"Right! But where is it?" He asked.

"That's what we've got to find out!" She yelled back. Honestly, he could be such an idiot sometimes...

Lina took to fighting one spider, and Gourry went after the other. Lina shot attack after attack, trying to find the spider's weak point, but to no avail. Every time she hit it, it would regenerate the missing portion easily.

"Look out, Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled. Lina ducked underneath the spider's attack.

"Thanks, Amelia!" She called back. "Now if we only knew where that heart was..."

"Lina! Aim for its head!" Zara called.

"Th-the head?" Gourry asked.

"He's right! The magic must be in the head! That's why it can shoot these attacks!" Chefa agreed. "Good observation, Zara!"

"No! No! Be quiet you bothersome humans! Why do you have to be so smart?" Lorelei whined. That was the confirmation that Lina needed.

"Alright, here goes! FIREBALL!" Lina shot the attack straight into the creature's head, while Gourry struck the other with his sword. The spider was enveloped in a shadowy light that quickly dissipated and the separate squashes fell to the floor, lifeless. The dark substance that bound everyone to the wall disappeared, allowing Lina's friends to escape. The group now confronted Lorelei.

"Aww man! Looks like I'll have to think of something even more fun that I can use to play with you next time... until then, take care Lina Inverse! Don't let anyone kill you except me!" The little monster said in a way that was both frustrated and playful. She quickly teleported away.

...

"She's a smart little brat. She knew that she'd take a real beating if she stayed." Lina observed.

"Right. But that spider-thing was really strong. Able to regenerate and create a substance that negates magic... just think of what would have happened if it had hit you..." Josiah said, and then realised the situation. "Wait! My squashes!" He rushed to where the assorted squashes lay on the floor. "There's enough left unharmed for tomorrow's competition." He sighed in relief after counting the ones that had been burnt or damaged.

"I guess it was a good thing that the spider could regenerate , then." Amelia observed.

"Thank you so much for saving us from that monster!" Caroline addressed Lina and Gourry.

"Caroline, if you recall correctly, that monster attacked us because she wanted to kill Lina. If it wasn't for Lina then we'd have never had that problem in the first place." Chefa corrected.

"She can still thank me for saving her!" Lina yelled. "Your ingratitude is starting to tick me off!"

"Your violent nature is starting to tick me off!" Chefa shot back.

"Your incompetence is starting to tick me off!" Lina countered.

The others watched the debate between Lina and Chefa. "She's finally found someone who likes to argue as much as she does." Zelgadis observed.

"Yeah. In a way, they're almost perfect for each other." Amelia agreed.

Gourry coughed. "What?"

"Oh, I just meant as friends, Mister Gourry! That's all! Don't worry!" Amelia corrected.

"What are you talking about? I just didn't hear what you said the first time." Gourry replied.

"Oh, I just... never mind." She said. "Miss Lina! Didn't you want to get moving today! It's already one o' clock in the afternoon! If we don't hurry, we won't make it very far before night fall!"

Lina turned away from her argument. "Oh yeah! That's right!" She turned back to Chefa. "Sorry dog, but we'll have to continue this some other time."

Chefa's eye twitched at the word 'dog,' but he nodded. "Nice meeting you, Lina Inverse." He said, shaking her hand.

"Same here Chefa, Caroline, Josiah."

"I hope to see you again sometime soon, Princess." Josiah said. "I'll probably visit Seyruun again. Hopefully you'll be there when I visit!"

Amelia smiled back. "Of course! I'll see you around, then!"

"Bye Josiah! Thanks for teaching me about cooking!" Zara enthused, hugging the chef.

"Anytime, Zara! Are you sure that you don't want to come with me and learn more about cooking?"

Zara opened his mouth as he tried to think of how to refuse politely. "He's sure." Lina interrupted, grabbing Zara by his cloak and pulling him away. Josiah watched in amazement at how easily the little boy let the sorceress drag him.

"Goodbye! It was nice meeting you all!" Caroline added.

"Bye!" Came a general reply from Lina and her friends.

And with that, the travellers continued on their journey.

-Ah, a fun chapter for sure! I learned more about squashes than I ever needed to know. And yes, the plural of 'squash' is 'squashes.' I looked it up.

I'm sorry if you got bogged down in Chefa's story... he's such a complex character and love him to death! I'll have to post the entirety of his story as a separate fanfiction sometime... The next chapter is going to be a bit more serious. Lina challenges Lorelei to a one on one duel in order to get answers as to what is going on. But will the answers only lead to more questions?

Oh, and this has nothing to do with the story, but I'm getting my braces off in two days. R&R! :3-


	9. 9:Questions! Answers and more questions?

-What? Two updates in one day? I've been on a roll! *Laugh* Anyway, here's chapter 9, in which the plot begins to advance a bit more. By the time this is over, Lina and friends won't look at Lorelei the same way again! Enjoy! :3-

* * *

**9- Questions! Answers and more questions?**

"So... what are we supposed to do now?" Lina sighed, staring at the forked pathway. They still didn't have a map, and weren't exactly sure which one was the path that they were supposed to be following.

"We could always stop for lunch." Gourry suggested pleasantly.

"But, Mister Gourry, we already had lunch." Amelia reminded him.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, we could always stop for dinner." He amended.

"But it's only two o' clock." Zelgadis replied.

"Um... maybe we could have afternoon tea?"

"We're not stopping to eat something, idiot! What's wrong? Are you hungry or something?" Lina asked. "You can't be. We just had lunch."

"_You _were the one who stole half of my sandwich, remember?" Gourry pointed out.

"You looked like you didn't want it!" Lina defended.

"I set it down for two seconds!"

"That's two seconds that you weren't paying attention to it!"

"But you didn't need it! You already ate almost all of Zara's lunch!" He replied.

Zara was quick to come to Lina's defence. "I didn't want most of it anyway..."

"See?" Lina pointed. "He didn't want it, so he was happy to give it to me."

"But that still doesn't explain why you needed to steal my food too!"

Zelgadis sighed and put his head in his hand. Lina and Gourry's arguments were getting exasperating. Amelia gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Just ignore them, Mister Zelgadis. Don't let it bother you." She said. Zel nodded in reply and turned to his arguing friends.

"Will you two stop worrying about food and figure out which way we're supposed to be going?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. The path." Lina replied, turning back to face the direction that they needed to go. She thought for a moment. "I suppose that, since we don't have a map, the best thing is for one person to go ahead and figure out which path leads where. If more than one person went, then we might get separated and have a hard time finding each other. So it has to be one person."

Lina turned to her friends who were nodding in agreement. "So..." she continued, "who wants to be the person to go?"

All eyes were directed at Lina.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Well, you were the one who suggested it, Miss Lina." Amelia said.

"And you are probably one of the fastest members of our group." Gourry agreed. "If they sent me, it'd take forever."

"That's because you'd get lost!" Lina declared. "Which... I suppose it would be a good idea for me to go anyway..." She turned back to the path. "You four stay here. Don't leave, or you're going to get a Fireball when I find you. Got it?"

"Right!" Zara agreed. The rest of Lina's friends nodded.

"We can sit over here by these trees." Amelia said, pointing to a small clearing in the forest. There was a slight chill in the air, but sitting in the sunlight proved to be quite comfortable.

"Alright, I'm gone. I'll be back soon!" Lina called as she continued on the path.

Lina's friends watched her go. "I just realised that she's going off without her protector." Gourry said. "I hope she'll be okay."

"Miss Lina will be fine." Amelia reassured him. "You know that she can take care of herself."

Gourry nodded, and Amelia continued. "I guess we need something to pass the time... Mister Zelgadis would you..." She looked up to see the chimera buried in his book again. "Oh... Zara-chan! Do you know how to play a game called chess?"

"No... what's that?" The three-year-old asked curiously.

"It's a really fun game! I can teach you how to play if you'd like." She replied.

"Okay! That sounds fun!" He agreed.

From behind his book, Zelgadis grinned. _Poor kid doesn't know what he's getting himself into... _he thought, almost laughing.

* * *

Lina continued along the trail. It was a nice day, but without the company of her friends to lighten the monotony of the journey, it was quite dull. Lina hadn't realised that the trail went so far without a sign or other marker that told you where you were going. She was beginning to get fed up with it.

"Why don't I just use a levitation spell, and see what I can observe from the sky?" She asked out loud. Surprisingly, there was an answer.

"I'm sorry, but the sky is reserved for birds, you see. We don't want any pesky humans there ruining it for us, got it?"

Lina turned around quickly. "You!" She accused.

Lorelei smirked. "I have a name, remember?" She asked, waving her finger tauntingly. "If you don't I'd be happy to jog your memory for you. FREEZE ARROW!"

Lina jumped out of the way, and stared at the ice for a moment, making sure that it was regular ice. It was. "Come on, Lorelei, I'm not some no-brained jellyfish! You should know that by now!"

Lorelei's smile didn't falter. "Oh, but from what I gather, you seem to be quite fond of jellyfish. At least one in particular..."

"I... I don't even know what you're talking about!" Lina sputtered, hoping that her face wasn't turning red. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Why, I'm here to kill you, of course."

"I knew that! But _why_? Why do you want me dead so badly?"

"I already told you. That's classified information." Lorelei taunted, putting her finger to her lips.

Lina clenched her teeth. "All of you monsters are just alike, huh?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing... you just remind me of another monster that I know, that's all."

"Oh? Lina Inverse associates with monsters? How incredibly unsurprising. They must have fun bothering you, huh? You seem to be quite amusing to annoy."

"You don't know the half of it..." Lina grumbled.

"Oh really? Well I do know that I'm here to kill you, so prepare to die!"

"W-wait! Hold on a second! I have an idea that might be good for both of us." Lina replied.

"An idea?" Lorelei looked at Lina with a bemused expression. "What kind of idea?"

"A duel." Lina said. "Just the two of us."

"A duel, eh? Continue, I'm listening." Lorelei responded.

"Well, there would be rules, of course." Lina began. "First of all, this is not a life-or-death duel. You can't kill me and I can't kill you, got it?" Lorelei frowned, but Lina continued. "We fight each other until one person is forced to admit defeat. Is that okay?"

"But I just wanted to kill you!" Lorelei whined.

"I know. That's where the stakes come in."

"Stakes?"

Lina nodded. "If you win, then you can kill me. I won't try to fight back."

"R-really?" Lorelei asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yes. But if I win..." Lina looked at Lorelei with a serious expression. "...if I win, I get to ask you a few questions- questions that you have to answer fully and to the best of your ability. No secrets. Okay?"

Lorelei smirked. "Certainly, Lina Inverse. You seem pretty confident that you'll win, staking you life on this and everything. I'll knock that confidence right out of you!"

"Good." Lina replied. "Let's begin."

* * *

The attacks flew back and forth between the two. Lorelei shot powerful dark attacks, aided by the power contained in her staff. Lina replied on trusty spells that she had used for a long time, such as Fireballs and Flare Arrows. The attacks met each other with equal force and caused explosions that the two girls nimbly avoided. The fight was just like those that they had shared before. Neither one was gaining any ground, and it seemed as if it would go on like this forever.

"Hmm... what kind of attack shall I use next? You seem to be quite good at countering, Lina Inverse. I guess I need some sort of strategy to catch you off guard." Lorelei was fond of voicing her strategic thoughts. It was a form of intimidation that she had learned from her father when he taught her magic, and it worked well against most humans. Lina Inverse seemed to be an exception, however.

"Now, I'm done playing around!" Lina said, rushing toward Lorelei. "ELMIKIA LANCE!"

Lorelei whipped around, just barely dodging the attack. "Careful with that!" She yelled.

"It's a duel! I'm not trying to be careful!" Lina shot back. "DUG HAUT!"

The little monster frantically attempted to avoid the spires of earth that were shooting up around her. Eventually she managed to fly above them. "Silly human! Earth-based attacks won't work very well against a creature of the sky!" Lorelei grabbed her staff and lunged forward towards her opponent. "Magical attacks don't seem to faze you, but maybe physical attacks will!"

Lina tried to jump out of the way, but Lorelei was too fast and sliced Lina's leg with the end of her staff. The sorceress dropped to the ground, clutching her wound in pain. Lorelei tried for another attack, but Lina managed to dodge with just a scratch on her arm and face.

_Dang it, that staff is just too powerful! _Lina thought, trying not to let the pain in her leg cloud her judgement. _But if I could get a hold of it..._

Lina staggered to her feet, spreading her arms out tauntingly. "Hey! Is that all you've got?" She teased.

"No way! I thought you'd give up by now! So you want more pain before accepting your fate?" Lorelei growled.

"Ha! I'll bet you can't hit me again!" Lina said.

"I-I bet I can!" Lorelei replied.

"You bet you can? That's it? I've heard better comebacks from a piece of fried chicken!" Lina taunted. "Oh, but that's what you are, right? A little chicken who's about to get fried?"

Lorelei's eye twitched. "Did you just call me fried chicken? I am not a chicken! I was once a proud song sparrow, and you're going to pay for that little remark! I _am_ a monster, after all!"

She lunged forward again with her staff, but this time, Lina was ready for it. Grabbing hold of the staff before the pointed end could make contact, Lina thrust Lorelei against a tree, and turned the staff on the monster.

* * *

"I wonder where Lina is. She's been gone for a while now." Gourry said, looking out at the forest around them.

"Oh, Miss Lina is probably figuring out which way is the right direction. She'll be back soon." Amelia replied, examining the chess board, trying to figure out where she could safely move. She picked up her queen and moved it diagonally to a seemingly safe position. To her surprise, Zara knocked it out with his rook.

"Check." He said.

Amelia was shocked. "Zara-chan, how did you..." She saw her opportunity. Knocking his rook out with her bishop, she closed the final door in on his king. "Checkmate!" She said.

"Oh! Congratulations! You win again, Amelia!" Zara exclaimed. "You're so good! You're a chess master!"

"Thanks Zara-chan, but you're actually pretty good too." Amelia said. She didn't want to admit that Zara was one of the most challenging players she had ever faced- and he'd only been playing for about two hours! He had asked to play with Zelgadis, and their game ended in a stalemate. Gourry had been awfully quiet, and Zara had asked him to play, but his mind was on Lina and he was easily beaten by Zara.

"I hope Lina is okay." Gourry continued, still staring off into space.

"Oh, quit worrying so much, Mister Gourry. Miss Lina will be fine. I'm sure she's somewhere out on that path, bored out of her wits." Amelia assured him.

"I hope so." He sighed. "Better bored than in danger..."

* * *

Lorelei looked up to see the sharp end of the staff just inches from her face. She knew full well the amount of damage that the staff could do, and she knew immediately that once Lina Inverse had the staff in her possession, she was defeated.

"I..I..." She stammered, feeling fear creep up on her- true fear that brought back long suppressed memories of the real reason that the staff had been created.

"Now, are you going to admit defeat and talk?" Lina asked, dropping to Lorelei's eye level. It was getting difficult to continue standing with her leg torn up the way it was.

"Ask me what you will." Lorelei replied submissively, her gaze averted away from Lina's. "A true monster will not tell an outright lie. You can be sure of that."

Lina didn't doubt Lorelei's honesty. She had enough experience with Xellos to know that monsters usually withheld information, but they never lied.

Lina began with an easy question. "You mentioned a master- who do you work for?"

Lorelei replied without looking back at Lina. "I work... for a monster that goes by the name of Zaragio."

"Zaragio? Never heard of him." Lina replied, puzzled.

"He is a monster that takes the form of a wolf, and his ability is complete control over fire. He's incredibly powerful, and can burn and destroy anything."

This monster sounded pretty scary, at least Lina thought so. "Why does he want me dead?" She asked.

"Did you know a sorceress named Veridia?" Lorelei asked.

"No, that name doesn't ring a bell either." Lina responded. "Why? Does she have something to do with the reason that your master sent you to kill me?"

Lorelei looked confused. "I thought you would know. He said that he is seeking revenge for the death of a human sorceress named Veridia. I thought that you had something to do with it, and that's why he wanted me to destroy you. Maybe he mistook you for someone else... Oh! That shouldn't matter to me! My job as an assassin is to get rid of you no matter what, so I can't worry about complications like that!"

"I see." Lina replied. "But why are you working for him anyway? What's in it for you?"

"I... well, you see..." Lorelei looked for a way to phrase the answer. "...it's actually a long story."

"I have time." Lina replied, shifting her position to alleviate the pain in her leg.

"Well, I was working for Zaragio in order to get help finding my father."

"Your father... you mean the monster that created you?" Lina asked.

"More or less, yeah. He was the one who used his magic to transform me from a bird into a monster. Not only that, but he sort of raised me, and took me on as an apprentice teaching me how to use magic and such. He also made that staff." Lorelei pointed to the staff that Lina was still holding threateningly near to her face. "But a little over a hundred years ago, there was a major battle. He and I were fighting alongside each other, the way we normally did, but we were attacked and became separated. At first I was afraid that he had been killed, but knowing how strong he was- _is_- I was sure that he was alive and must be looking for me. So I set out to find him and have searched all this time with no success..."

Lorelei was beginning to get emotional, and Lina moved the staff a few inches away from Lorelei's face. Her leg was still killing her, but she still had things that she needed to learn from the monster. "And so, Zaragio offered to help you?" Lina asked.

"Yes. I met him just a little while ago, and informed him of my predicament. He told me he had a job for me, and if I did it well then he might consider thinking about helping me with my problem."

"_Might consider thinking about _helping you? What kind of promise is that? This guy seems to be pretty blunt." Lina said incredulously. "Why on Earth would you accept that offer?"

The tears that had gathered in Lorelei's eyes began to spill over. "It was... the only hope I had left!" She sobbed. "Monsters don't like to be around me because they consider me silly and immature. They all look down on me, even though I'm powerful. Humans don't want anything to do with me because I'm a monster. They fear me even when I'm not threatening them. My father was the only person who ever cared about anything that I did! The only person to ever take an interest in me! To lose him was the worst thing that ever happened in my life and if I could just find him again... I..."

Lina stared at the little monster who was sitting across from her. She seemed so lost, alone, confused, and afraid. Lina had never seen a monster cry before, and the sight was unsettling.

"Lorelei..." Lina began, "what if I told you that I know a monster who knows a lot about the monster race, and might be able to help you? What would you say to that?"

"Do you want the absolute truth?" Lorelei asked.

"I wouldn't want anything else." Lina replied.

"I would say that I think you're a liar, Lina Inverse."

Lina stared, stunned at the monster's reply. This monster didn't trust her? The monster that had just poured out her life story? Granted that she had forced the story out of her at spearpoint, but still...

"Hey, Lorelei? Is this the path that leads to Mahoutskai?" Lina questioned.

"Yes, this is the right path."

"Good." Lina figured that she had found out everything that she needed to know from Lorelei. "Alright, if I hand you this staff back, will you promise just to teleport away and not attack me?" Lina asked.

"I...promise..." Lorelei replied.

Lina staggered to her feet, and slowly handed the staff back to the monster. The sorceress braced herself for a sudden attack, but true to her word, Lorelei phased away into the astral plane and disappeared from view.

Lina was left with her own injuries now, and had to figure out how to get back to her friends. The gash on her leg had stopped bleeding, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't start again if she started walking. She was too weak and hungry to pull off an effective recovery spell, though.

"I'll just walk back. It's not too far. I can make it."

And with her determination, she headed back to where her friends were waiting for her.

* * *

"It's getting dark. Do you think we should go looking for her?" Zelgadis asked, tired of watching Gourry pace back and forth, staring at his sword.

"I'm sure that Lina would be back by now. What do you think happened? Is she okay?" He was asking.

"Mister Gourry, please calm down. I'm sure that Miss Lina is fine, and... hey, is that...? Miss Lina!" Amelia stood up and saw Lina approaching the group.

"Lina, you're back. Finally!" Zelgadis said, and then paused, noticing her slow pace.

"She's hurt!" Gourry exclaimed, noticing that Lina favoured one leg as she walked. "Lina, what happened?"

He rushed forward and caught her as she began to stumble. "Gourry..." she murmured weakly. "I figured it out. This one _is_ the right path..." Her voice trailed off as she collapsed into her protector's arms.

"Lina!"

* * *

"So... you think Lorelei is being used as a pawn by Zaragio?" Zelgadis asked, sipping a cup of tea.

I was now dark, and Zara had already gone to sleep. The rest of the group was sitting around the fire, finishing dinner, and listening to Lina explain what had happened.

"Yeah. You can tell by what he said to her that he doesn't want to help her. He just needs someone to do his dirty work." Lina nodded.

"It's all because she wants to find her father, right?"Gourry questioned.

"Yeah." Lina agreed. "She wants to find her father more than anything else. That means that she'll do anything in order to achieve that. It's kind of the same way that Rezo would do anything to get his eyesight back, or Zel would do anything to find his cure."

"Miss Lina! How completely unjust of you to place Mister Zelgadis in the same category as those two! He'd never do some of the things that they did, right Mister Zelgadis?"

The chimera turned away to avoid meeting Amelia's gaze.

"Oh, I understand where you're coming from, Amelia. I just meant that they're in the same situation. Unlike the others, Zel actually has a bit of common sense. He wouldn't go to some of the lengths that they did, right Zel?" Lina amended.

"That depends..." Zelgadis replied.

"Mister Zelgadis!"

"Hey, hey, we were discussing Lorelei here, weren't we? Let's not get sidetracked." Lina said. "So the question is, do we want to help her?"

"I think we should help her." Gourry added. "Underneath her mean exterior it seems like she's actually kind of nice. It's terrible for someone like her to be taken advantage of."

Zelgadis nodded. "When you want something strongly enough, it becomes a weakness and your life is consumed by it. This Zaragio person seems to be taking advantage of her weakness, which isn't right. She needs some help."

"You're right Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia exclaimed, feeling a bit better now that he was talking about preventing wrongdoings and defending Justice. "I know that if I had been separated from my father, I'd be terribly upset and do everything I could to find him again." Amelia was sympathetic of Lorelei's daughterly love, remembering the time when her father had faked his own death. Zelgadis saw her expression change to melancholy, and he guessed the memory that she was thinking of. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and it succeeded in pulling her out of her reverie. "Thanks, Mister Zelgadis. I'm alright now." She rewarded him with a big smile, and he blushed slightly.

"My reason for wanting to help the monster is simple." Lina said. "If we can help her find her father, then she won't have any reason to kill me. Lorelei gets reunited with her father and I get to live. Everybody wins."

"But Lina, won't Zaragio still want you dead?" Gourry asked.

She paused. "Uh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"So what do you propose we do?" Zelgadis asked, still not taking his eyes off Amelia.

"We'll have to consult the person we know that knows the most about monsters." Lina replied.

"Miss Lina, you don't mean..."

"Well, who better to know about monsters than a monster himself?"

"How do we know that Xellos will help us?" Zelgadis asked. He had a good point. Xellos usually didn't get involved in things that didn't relate to him.

"We don't." Lina replied. "But it wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Miss Lina, I have another question." Amelia interjected.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, Lorelei said that the monster, Zaragio, was trying to get revenge for the death of a human sorceress. Do you think that this could be referring to the monster in the story that we heard the day we met Lorelei?"

"You mean the one whose family was killed by the people of Mahoutskai?" Gourry asked.

Amelia nodded. "Do you think these two stories are connected?"

"I don't know." Lina replied. "But whatever happens, we have to be wary. We don't know exactly why Zaragio is targeting us- er, _me_- so there's still danger ahead, even if we do help Lorelei find her father."

"That's another reason that we have to get Zara home as soon as possible. A little kid like him doesn't need to be exposed to this kind of danger." Zelgadis said.

"I agree." Lina responded, looking at the sleeping child. "He doesn't need to be involved in this dangerous situation more than necessary. That's why we need to get him home as fast as we can."

* * *

Amelia and Zelgadis had already gone to bed along with Zara, and Lina and Gourry sat around the fire, watching the intermittent flaring of the light in silence. Lina was consumed with the thoughts of her duel with Lorelei and processing the new information that she had received. Gourry was also thinking about what had happened to Lina. It was bothering him, and he finally spoke up about it.

"Uh, Lina?"

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well... I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry."

Lina was taken by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You got hurt today when you were fighting Lorelei... it could have been much worse... and it's all my fault." He replied forlornly.

"And just how do you figure that? You weren't even there!" Lina wanted to know how the swordsman was going to place the blame on himself for what Lorelei had done.

"I'm your protector. If you get hurt and I didn't do anything about it, then I'm the one at fault."

Lina sighed. Here he was, going off on this again. It was as if he felt like a failure every time she got so much as a scratch on her. It was beginning to get annoying. "Idiot! You can't be around me all the time! That would make you a stalker, not a bodyguard. And I would not appreciate that, got it?"

"But..."

"Look, I didn't get hurt very badly today anyway, so there's no need to worry about it."

"Lina, you could hardly walk." Gourry pointed out. "You were practically unconscious until Amelia and Zel managed to use some recovery spells on you."

"I walked all the way back here, didn't I?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"But what?" Lina was tired and exasperated with the conversation.

"Lina... when you get hurt... I don't know... it just scares me..." He stammered.

"Scares you? Why?" She asked.

"Well..." He began, but then turned to look in another direction. Lina followed.

"Lina? Gourry?" A tiny voice addressed them.

"Zara? What are doing awake? It's late." Lina chided.

"I know. I... had a bad dream..." He replied timidly.

"So? Get over it and go back to sleep." She replied.

"Lina, come on. Give him a break." Gourry said, turning to Zara. "What was your dream about?"

Zara didn't seem to want to talk about it, but he acquiesced for Lina and Gourry's sake. "There were scared people... and blood... and lots and lots of fire... everywhere... burning everything..." The child looked as if here were going to cry.

"There, there, it's alright. You don't have to be scared anymore. It's just a dream. It's not real." Gourry comforted him.

Lina wasn't so sure. She knew that it was not the first time that Zara had been woken up by nightmares. It seemed to be repetitive. They also seemed a bit too graphic to be the workings of a simple child's brain. There must be some truth behind them. Past events... perhaps suppressed memories...

Lina then remembered what Lorelei had said, about her master being able to control fire... and burn everything, just like Zara had described. There had to be a correlation somewhere, but Lina couldn't figure it out. It was as if there was a missing piece of the puzzle that had yet to fall into place. Perhaps once they got Zara back home, his parents could tell them what had happened when he was younger...

"Here, I was going to bed now anyway, so why don't I go with you? I'll do my best to protect you from any more nightmares." Gourry said, smiling comfortingly.

"Thank you, Gourry." Zara replied, hugging his tall companion.

"Hey, we have to look out for each other, right? Lina are you coming?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah, I will. You guys go on ahead though."

"Okay." Gourry nodded.

As the two of them went to sleep, Lina realised that she and Gourry had never finished their conversation. _But what was there to finish? _She wondered. _He just needs to stop being paranoid and think sensibly for once. But, then again, thinking sensibly was never something Gourry did well..._

There was too much on Lina's mind for her to handle, and sleep came easily for the exhausted sorceress. She wouldn't have to worry about it until tomorrow anyway...

* * *

-Nyaaa! I love you to death, Zara, but... you really need to stop interrupting Lina and Gourry! *bangs head on imaginary table* Anyway, this was pretty much a completely serious chapter. So the next one is going to be filled with fluff! Hooray for fluffiness! There's going to be a big party, festivities, and of course- dancing! Weeee! *Spins around room*Why do I seem to have so much energy? It's almost 11:00 at night when I'm writing this! Ah, whatever! R&R is appreciated! :3-


	10. 10: Party! You don't need manners!

-The idea of a party with dancing is a tad bit overused, and a bit of a cliché, but I had so much fun writing this chapter that I don't care! Hah! Lorelei literally gets a headache from all the fluffiness by the end. Nevertheless, enjoy!-

* * *

**10- Party! You don't need man****ners to have a good time!**

"You've been asked to do what?" Lina asked Amelia.

"Fill in for my father at an official function. It's more like a party, but it's still an important event. They said that, since I was in the area already, it would be easier to let me fill in for him than to make him come all the way from Seyruun." Amelia explained. They had spent the night at another town on the same path that they had been following, and Amelia was suggesting that they stay another night for this function that she had been asked to attend.

"I see." Lina nodded. "But... where does that leave the rest of us?"

"Do we get to come too?" Zara asked, staring at Amelia with big, sparkling eyes.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't, Zara-chan!" Amelia enthused. "It would certainly be boring without you guys!"

"Yay! I've never been to a big party before!" Zara celebrated.

"Then you're going to have a really good time." Amelia assured him. "Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, Mister Zelgadis, are you coming?"

Lina frowned. "Well, I'm not sure... we are trying to get Zara home, and any more delays could be..."

"They're going to have food, Miss Lina."

"Count us in!" Lina replied, grabbing Gourry's arm. "Right?"

"Yeah! They always have the best food at parties!" He responded.

Amelia smiled at how easy a task it had been to convince Lina and Gourry to come with her. It was simple, especially compared to the formidable task she had in front of her now. "...Mister Zelgadis? What about you? Are you coming?"

"I don't... really like parties all that much..." He replied in his usual stoic manner.

"But..." Amelia tried to think of some way to convince him. "It would be kind of lonely without you around..."

"I don't think anyone would miss me all that much..." he began, but seeing Amelia's pleading expression, changed his tone slightly. "...ah, but if you really wanted me to, I could come..."

"Yay! Thanks so much Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia said, giving her friend a big hug. Lina smirked, watching the chimera's face turn a shade redder.

"W-what kind of party is this anyway?" He asked, separating himself from Amelia's grasp.

"Oh, right. Well, it's a formal party... so you would have dress properly, and act with etiquette and manners."

Lina coughed. "Formal dress? Manners? Ugh, that food had better be _really_ good..."

"What's etti-quit?" Gourry asked.

"Etiquette. It means that you need to be kind and polite to the people around you, Mister Gourry." Amelia explained.

"Oh. Aren't there a lot of rules about that? I'm not familiar with all of them..." He replied.

"Rules? What rules?" Zara asked.

"Oh! I'd forgotten that you aren't familiar with the rules governing proper etiquette! " Amelia exclaimed. "Here! I'll teach them to you! Don't worry; by the time of the party tonight, you'll know how to act like proper gentlemen."

"Heh, good luck. You'll need it." Lina laughed.

"Miss Lina, this goes for you too. You need to learn to be a proper lady."

"What? What are you talking about? I'm already a proper lady? Isn't that right, Gourry?" Lina fumed.

"Uh... well..." Gourry stammered, trying to figure out how to say 'no' in a way that wouldn't upset Lina very much. "I mean... you can be a lady sometimes... but..."

Lina whack him over the head. "I don't need any etiquette lessons!"

"Even so, I think it would be good for you, Miss Lina." Amelia said. Zara tugged at her cape.

"Amelia, is this going to be hard?" He asked.

"Of course not!" She enthused. "You just need to listen up to what I tell you, and you'll do fine! Mister Gourry! You need to listen up too! Miss Lina! That goes for you as well! Mister Zelgadis!...you can just sit over there and watch if you'd like."

"What? Why does Zel get to sit aside and not do anything?" Lina yelled angrily.

"Because, Miss Lina, Mister Zelgadis already _has_ manners and etiquette." Amelia explained.

"I'll show him manners and etiquette..." Lina mumbled, her fist clenched.

"N-no! Miss Lina! We have to get working! The party is tonight!" Amelia quickly came to Zel's defence.

"Alright..." Lina growled. "But you'd better not make us do anything crazy, or you're getting a Fireball in the face."

* * *

"Now, our first lesson is teaching you to behave properly." Amelia said, addressing the semicircle that was sitting around her.

"I can behave properly." Zara said.

"I'm sure that you can, Zara-chan, But let's see what you know. Do you know how to address someone when they talk to you?"

"With their name!" Zara said, pleased with himself for knowing the answer.

"But... what if you don't know their name?" Amelia asked.

"Um..." Zara didn't know the answer to this question. He had known the names of everyone that he could remember associating with.

"Here. Whenever someone addresses you, you respond to them as 'yes sir' or 'yes ma'am." Amelia explained. "Let's practice. I'll say excuse me, as if I'm addressing you, and you respond appropriately. Excuse me, sir." She said to Zara.

"Yes ma'am?" He replied.

"Very good! Such a polite young man!" Amelia said happily. Zara beamed at the praise. "Now, Miss Lina." The princess continued, turning to her friend. "Excuse me, miss."

"Yeah, what?" Lina asked unenthusiastically.

"Miss Lina! You can't say 'what?' to these people! You have to be polite and say 'yes sir' or 'yes ma'am' when addressed. Got it?"

"Yes sir." Lina replied, keeping a straight face.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia groaned. She didn't have time for Lina's antics. "Mister Gourry, you're next. What are you supposed to say to someone if they address you?"

"I... uh..." He opened his mouth as if to answer, but closed it again, a blank expression on his face. "Hang on... I can remember... it's... no, sorry..." He shook his head. "What are we supposed to say again?"

Amelia fell to the ground. "You two are hopeless!" She sighed.

"Well, you just need to stop treating us like little kids!" Lina yelled.

"If you want that, you'll have to stop acting like a little kid." Zelgadis responded, watching the trouble from off to the side.

"I don't need any comments from you, Zel!" The sorceress fumed.

"Come on, now! Let's not lose focus, Miss Lina!" Amelia interjected. "Next I need to explain to you manners to use during meals."

"It's about time we got talking about food." Lina replied, returning her attention to Amelia's lesson.

"Now, you should know that it's not polite to scarf down everything on the table."

"Really?" Gourry asked.

"What? You're saying that it's impolite to _eat_?" Lina asked incredulously. "Next you'll be telling us that it's impolite to breathe!"

"No, it's perfectly fine to eat, Miss Lina, but you have to eat slowly, using silverware instead of stuffing everything into your mouth." Amelia explained.

"Hmph. Stupid rules..." Lina muttered. "Are we done with this yet? This is boring."

"Almost, Miss Lina. We just need to go over one last thing- dancing."

* * *

"Right, right, left, left, back, and turn." Amelia was explaining the dance steps to her friends, who were staring back at her in bewilderment.

"Right, left, what?" Zara asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, I don't get it." Gourry complained.

Amelia sighed. Dancing was hard to explain without demonstrating anything. "Here, let's try it. Zara, you be my partner. Miss Lina, you and Mister Gourry copy what we're doing."

Zara was almost half of Amelia's height, which made teaching him to dance a bit awkward.

"You step to the right twice, then back to the left twice, and then step back and turn, like this." Amelia explained, showing the little boy the steps.

"I get it now!" Zara said happily. The two of them practiced the steps for a while, doing quite well- especially with the difference in height. Amelia hoped that her other friends were having the same luck.

"Miss Lina, Mister Gourry, do you understand... huh?" Amelia turned to see her two friends sitting down watching them. "You're not doing anything?" She asked, exasperated.

"Nah. Too much work. We know how to dance, right Gourry?" Lina responded.

"Sure. We can dance pretty well... I think..." He replied.

"But... but you..." Amelia stammered.

"Don't bother, Amelia. They're not going to learn anything, no matter how good their teacher is." Zelgadis said.

"I suppose you're right, Mister Zelgadis." Amelia sighed. "We should really start getting ready. After all, the party is going to begin in just a few hours."

"I hope..." Lina began, "...that you don't expect me to wear a dress."

"Well, actually..." Amelia's voice trailed off.

"Darn it, Amelia, that food had better be _really_ good. I'm serious."

* * *

"Are Lina and Amelia still getting ready?" Zelgadis asked. His outfit hadn't changed much, and it was the same with Gourry and Zara. It wasn't what you would call 'formal,' but it was definitely more formal-looking than what they normally wore.

"Lina seems to be giving Amelia a hard time." Gourry replied, listening to the muffled shouts coming from the other side of the door.

"But Miss Lina, your hair!"

"My hair is fine, Amelia!"

"But you'd look so pretty with just a little-"

"I said don't touch my hair!"

There was a stifled crash audible behind the closed door, and more unintelligible yelling. In a few minutes, Amelia came out with an exhausted expression on her face. She was wearing a light-blue dress with white designs highlighting the skirt, and had a matching bow in her hair. Normally bows were worn by younger children, but on Amelia, this one made her look even more mature and established.

"Amelia... you look... great..." Zelgadis commented, catching his breath.

"Yeah! You're really pretty!" Zara agreed, adding a smile to the slight blush on Amelia's face.

"I think so too." Gourry added.

"Thanks Mister Zelgadis, Mister Gourry, Zara-chan." She replied weakly. "I did the best I could on Miss Lina. She was very reluctant to dress up for the occasion."

Gourry nodded. "I expect that Lina wouldn't want to do that. She's really not that type of person."

"Well, anyway, you can come out now, Miss Lina." She called.

"You guys had better not laugh at me, or I'm going to-"

"We're not going to! Just come out already! We need to get going!" Amelia replied.

Lina reluctantly joined the rest of her friends. She was wearing a long, pink dress decorated with orange sequins sewed in intricate patterns, and her hair was partially tied up with matching clips. The group stared at her.

"You clean up rather nicely, Lina." Zelgadis admitted.

"Wow! You look so pretty! Lina's really pretty!" Zara exclaimed.

"Hmph. Thanks, I guess..." Lina mumbled. "What's your problem?" She asked Gourry, who was still staring at her.

"Lina... you... you look..." He stammered.

Lina blushed slightly, wondering what he was going to say next. "What?" She asked hesitantly.

"...you actually look like a girl!"

_WHACK!_

"In case you hadn't noticed, jellyfish-brain, I'm a girl all the time!" She yelled, still whacking him over the head with a slipper.

"W-wait! That's not... I didn't mean..." Gourry said, but it Lina payed no attention to him.

Amelia, Zelgadis, and Zara watched the scene with chagrin. "Poor Mister Gourry. He tries so hard." Amelia murmured.

"Although, it seems like the harder he tries, the harder Lina beats up on him." Zelgadis commented.

"Yeah." Zara agreed, not completely understanding what they were talking about, just that Gourry had tried to comment Lina and she had taken it the wrong way.

"Miss Lina, we need to leave. The party is going to start soon." Amelia called.

"It's about time. Come on, idiot, let's go." Lina replied, dragging Gourry behind her.

* * *

"Welcome to Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, and honoured guests." The person at the door greeted them.

"Honoured guests, huh? I could get used to that." Lina remarked.

The ballroom of the mansion that the party was taking place in was decorated colourfully, and had live music. There were tables piled high with food and edible decorations. There was also a doorway that led out to a courtyard, though it was a particularly cold autumn night, so the majority of the people stayed inside.

The tables of food attracted Lina and Gourry, and they remembered Amelia's lessons on manners, much to the delight of the princess. As a member of the royal family, Amelia associated with the other heads-of-state, diplomats, and high-ranking authorities attending the party. Zara wandered around, mesmerised by the decorations and festivities. And Zelgadis, who had never been a fan of parties, found a comfortable chair in a corner where he could sit and observe the events.

There was another guest at the party- one who had not received an invitation. Nevertheless, she had snuck into the event, wanting to see what kind of attention she could gather. She was severely disappointed to find that no one payed attention to a little girl.

"I was sure that every one of those distinguished humans would want to dance with me!" Lorelei complained to herself. "It's not fair. Just because I look like a 5-year-old human... it's not my fault that I age much slower than they do! I'll look like a grown-up one day, but they'll be long dead by then..." She mumbled unhappily. A somewhat familiar voice pulled her out of her rant.

"Lorelei? Hey there! I didn't know you were here! You were invited too?"

The monster turned around to see who had spoken to her. It was Lina Inverse's little apprentice! What was he doing, talking to her? He seemed friendly enough, and she could tell that, whatever emotion he was feeling, it was sincere.

"Ah, not exactly. What are you doing here?" She asked. She knew that he was here with Lina Inverse, who was probably here because of their princess friend, but she felt like making conversation. After all, Zara was the first person to actually talk to her. It was somewhat degrading to associate herself with such a young human child, but her loneliness caused her to take advantage of whatever companionship was offered to her.

"My friend Amelia invited me!" Zara replied happily. "It's so much fun! I've never been to a big party like this before! Have you?"

"I've been to quite a few." Lorelei bragged, the question stirring up fond memories. She and her father had enjoyed crashing random humans' parties and then attacking them to see what kind of fear they could cause. It was great fun, at least for the monsters. They had to be careful at the beginning though, as the cheerful emotions created by a party could pose a hazard to them. Lorelei had been created from a previously living creature, so positive emotions did not affect her as much as they affected her father, but even she couldn't handle a room full of joyful humans for too long. It was odd, but she noticed that Zara's cheery disposition did not seem to bother her the way most humans' would. She decided that it must be because he was so young, but it was still a bit unnerving to be so comfortable around a smiling human.

"Wow, really? That's so cool! Do you like big parties?" Zara asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I've always had fun at parties, but... this is the first one I've been to without my father." She admitted.

"Oh, I see. It's kind of lonely without him, huh?"

Zara had been spot on to Lorelei's emotions, and she felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. She wanted someone to share her fun with, what little fun she had nowadays, anyway. "Yeah..." She nodded weakly.

Zara noticed her sadness, and decided to try and cheer her up. "Hey! Do you like to dance? I like dancing! Do you want to dance with me?"

Lorelei looked at him in astonishment. Had he just asked to dance with her? She hadn't expected to end up dancing with a three-year-old, but he was the first person to ask her... and she had wanted to dance...

"Um, thanks... that sounds fun..." She replied.

Zara's smile intensified, and he dragged her out with him toward the dance floor. _What am I getting myself into? _Lorelei wondered.

* * *

As the princess, Amelia had to dance with most of the dignitaries that had attended the party. She didn't mind. She was used to this sort of thing at home and enjoyed dancing, even though this was strictly political.

Amelia was busy with her role as the princess. This was more important than any of her friendships, and she had to complete her job before socialising with her friends. At least, that's what Zelgadis told himself as he sat dejectedly watching the party around him. Part of his brain wanted to think that she was purposefully avoiding him because she didn't want to be around him, but this irrational thought was put aside by the logical part of his brain- the same part that had put aside the whimsical notion that she might actually be thinking about him and want to dance with him instead of these people that she'd been associating with all night. Zelgadis' logic told him that she was only ignoring him because she was focused on her job, and that she still considered him a friend, even if nothing more than that. The chimera was too deep in thought to notice the object of his contemplations approaching him.

"Hey, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked.

"Amelia!" He exclaimed. "Why are you... what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to see you. You look kind of lonely sitting over here by yourself." She replied.

"I just... don't like parties that much..." He mumbled. "What about you? You seemed to be having a lot of fun."

"I guess so. Most of these people are friends of my father, so they're rather nice. Some of them are pretty good dancers... though most of them just stepped all over my feet." She laughed with enough exuberance to elicit a little smile from Zelgadis.

"That sounds rather unfortunate, Princess." He replied.

"Amelia. My name is Amelia." She corrected. "And, anyway, why aren't you up dancing and having fun? It's a party after all."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the most popular guy around. People kind of avoid me. And I'm certain that no girl would ever want to dance with me." He admitted.

"That's not true! After all, it's unjust to judge a person based on outside appearance! There's certainly someone who would dance with you!" The princess exclaimed.

"Amelia, no matter how unjust it is, that doesn't stop it from being true. No one wants to be around me, and they definitely don't want to dance with-"

"You're wrong, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia said, grabbing the chimera's hand and pulling him with her.

"A-Amelia! What are you doing?" He asked, surprised.

"Dancing!_ I_ want to dance with you!" She exclaimed.

"Y-you?" He asked, the information baffling the logical part of his brain. She wanted to dance with him. _She_ wanted to dance with _him_? "I'm... I'm really not all that good...I might step on your feet too." Zelgadis stammered.

"I wouldn't mind if_ you_ stepped on my feet, Mister Zelgadis."

"You probably would..." He mumbled, but he was a better dancer than he gave himself credit for, and didn't step on her feet even once.

Zelgadis could sense people staring at them, and he didn't blame them. After all, Princess Amelia had been one of the most sought after dancing partners at the party, and now she was dancing with the strange-looking young man that everyone had tried to avoid. He could almost feel the disapproving stares directed at the two of them- him mostly. What business did he have, associating with the princess?

He turned to Amelia and began to say something, but stopped. She was dancing happily, her eyes closed and her hands draped around his neck. She didn't care. Of course! Maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have to care either...

Zelgadis didn't know that, somewhere across the room, there was someone else with nearly the same thoughts going through her head. Lorelei was being twirled around the room by Zara who, though shorter than she was, seemed to have even more energy than usual. He continually talked as the two of them danced, on just about every subject that he could think of. Lorelei thought that she would find this annoying, but for some reason, hearing Zara tell her everything he knew about everything was actually quite fascinating. He was the first person since her father who had actually taken the time to talk to her, be nice to her, and actually make an effort to cheer her up. He didn't care that she was despised by monster for being impetuous and immature, or that she was a monster at all. He talked as she listened, and didn't care about who she was or what she looked like with an unconditional type of kindness that she had only known through the care of a person that loved her.

Perhaps it was a dream, or just their imagination, but for once it seemed like Lorelei and Zelgadis didn't have to care about anything except the affections of the person dancing next to them.

* * *

The party was a lot of fun. Lorelei finally got a headache from all the festivities, and decided to take a break. Amelia had swapped her tall, handsome dancing partner for a small, cute three-year-old who had almost as much fun dancing with the princess as he had with a certain monster. Of course, it had been much easier to dance with Lorelei, since they were almost the same height, but he enjoyed Amelia's company as well. Zelgadis watched them from his seat in the corner with a smile. Perhaps he liked parties just a bit more than he had earlier that afternoon.

Lina and Gourry had pretty much decimated all the food at the tables (slowly and politely of course,) and Lina had suggested that they get a bit of fresh air while they waited for the cooks to restock the food. It was already dark outside, and the pair had the courtyard basically all to themselves.

"Man, getting all dressed up for this thing was a major pain, but the food was totally worth it!" Lina said happily.

"Yeah, sure was." Gourry agreed. "But you know... I kind of like your hair like that. It looks nice. You should wear it like that more often."

"Nah, no way." Lina replied, waving the idea away with her hand. "Do you remember how long it took Amelia to get it this way? Too much work! I'd be better off just keeping it down like I normally do."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Gourry said. "I think it looks good down too."

Lina blushed at the obvious comment. "Of course it does. I look good in anything." She exclaimed, trying to dispel the awkward silence with some of her normal behaviour. "Anyway, what about your hair? You've got the longest hair of almost everyone that I know, and you're a guy."

Gourry nodded. "Yeah, I've never really felt like bothering with it before. Why? Do you think I should cut it?"

"No! Don't!"

Lina was just as surprised as Gourry at how quickly the words had come out of her mouth. "I... uh... mean," she continued, blushing slightly, "...you know that if you cut it then it grows faster, right? So then you have to cut your hair again... and so on. Too much work for something like that. Just leave it the way it is." Lina wasn't going to tell him that he looked handsome and heroic the way he was now, although that didn't stop the thought from crossing her mind.

"Yeah. I guess it is better not to mess with it. After all, we have to be focused on fighting evil, right?" He asked.

"We sure do." Lina responded. "Man, I feel like an idiot standing out here talking about hair and appearances. Famous bandit hunters shouldn't care about things like that."

"Well, I think that everyone deep down in concerned about things like this. It's part of human nature to think about how others view us, kind of like..."

"Don't try to be deep, jellyfish-brain; it's not working out." Lina scolded.

"Sorry." Gourry apologised. "But Lina?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Please... don't change anything about yourself, okay?" He asked.

"What, you mean my hair?" Lina responded.

"No, I mean everything about you. Don't change from the way you are now."

Lina threw him a puzzled look. "Why? Didn't you tell me before that I'm violent, unpredictable, cruel, and greedy, with a quick temper and a bottomless appetite?"

"Yes, but I_ like_ that." He replied.

Lina's face turned a shade redder. She reminded herself that he'd said that he liked the _things_, not her. "Seriously? You _like_ getting attacked with a slipper/Fireball/Dragon Slave on occasion for no apparent reason?"

"Yeah. I guess I do."

She stared at her companion incredulously. "Gourry, I was worried about your intelligence earlier, but now I fear for your sanity."

"My what?" He asked.

"It means I'm worried that you're going crazy." Lina explained.

"Well, thanks for worrying about me, but I like you just the way you are." He responded, his gaze drifting about the courtyard. Lina sort of wished that he'd look at her. He'd finally said it- that he didn't just like the things she did, he liked _her_.

"Uh, Gourry?" She began.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"I... erm, well... I..." Dang it! She'd forgotten what she was going to say. She had gotten suddenly caught up in his strong azure gaze and... _No wonder he has memory problems... _She thought.

"What is it, Lina?"

"I just..." Her voice trailed off. "Just... don't change either, okay jellyfish?" She punched his shoulder playfully, and he grabbed her hand.

"Okay." He smiled.

Neither of them spoke for a while, not sure what to say next. Gourry was still holding on to Lina's hand. She felt his grip loosen, as if he was going to let go, and then tighten again as if he had decided against it. Both of them had things they wanted to say, but they weren't sure exactly how to put it into words. So they just ended up standing there next to each other for what seemed like an eternity, until a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Come on! If you're going to kiss her, do it already! I don't have all night!"

Lina flinched and pulled her hand out of Gourry firm grip, facing the person who had addressed them. "L-Lorelei! What are you... why did... you've got it wrong...we aren't..." She stammered, hoping her face was not as red as it felt.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your little romantic moment, but you were just standing there doing nothing. It was quite amusing to watch at first, but then it got boring, and I wanted to ask you a favour tonight."

"Y-you..." Lina muttered accusingly. She had seen Lorelei at the party, but since the little monster hadn't approached her, she didn't say anything about it. After what had happened the last time they met, she wasn't eager to start something with Lorelei. "You've got the wrong idea! We weren't... it wasn't..." She stumbled with her words.

"Huh? Don't tell me that you're denying how much you love your little jellyfish friend over there. You're so cute together." The monster commented.

Lina coughed. "Th-that's not..." Then she remembered something. She wasn't going to let Lorelei get away with teasing her, that was for sure. "Oh, but I saw you dancing with your little boyfriend earlier. Taken a liking to human kids, have you? Although I can't say I'm sure that I approve of your little crush on my student."

Lorelei's face blanched and then turned a deep scarlet colour. "N-no! No! No! Not at all! That's wrong! You've got it totally wrong! We were just..." She stumbled, but then remembered something her father had once taught her. "_Denial- it's the most sure sign of true love, my dear." _He'd said with a mischievous smile, and she had agreed. Now she seemed to be caught up in her own statement.

"Then can you see how easy it is to mistake something like that?" Lina pointed out. "If there wasn't anything behind you and Zara dancing, then there wasn't anything behind our little conversation out here, got it?" She reasoned.

This only made Lorelei even more uncomfortable with her relationship with the little human boy, but it didn't matter right now. This wasn't what she had come to talk to Lina Inverse about.

"Listen Lina Inverse, I want to ask you a favour."

"What? To let you kill me? You know that's not going to happen, birdbrain!" Lina replied.

"No, no. I'm not here to kill you... _this time_ at least. I wanted you to know that I had a lot of fun when we duelled a few days ago. So I wanted to ask you for a rematch." Lorelei said.

"Fun? What was so fun about it?" Lina asked. It hadn't seemed like Lorelei was having fun, especially when Lina had stolen her staff and shoved it in her face. She had actually cried, and here she was asking for a rematch?

"Well, losing wasn't fun... but going up against you was! I've never fought anyone whose skills were so evenly matched with mine! And with your rules, there was no fear that either of us would be killed in the fight, so I could simply enjoy the duel. It was exhilarating- you reminded me somewhat of my father. So I wanted to ask you... if we could duel again."

"Here and now?" The sorceress asked sceptically.

"Yes, here and now. If you're ready." Lorelei nodded. "If not, then I'll wait for you. It wouldn't be fun to challenge a reluctant opponent."

Lina thought for a moment. She was used to Lorelei's cryptic behaviour, not this straightforward attitude. She was sure that there had to be a catch somewhere, right? "Just what would the stakes of this duel be?" Lina asked cautiously.

"Stakes?"

"Yeah, birdbrain, stakes. Remember the last duel we fought? You lost, so you had to answer my questions. Now what happens if one of us loses?" Lina reminded her.

"Oh, I wasn't planning to stake anything on this duel! It would just be practice!" Lorelei explained.

"Really, huh? No stakes? This ought to be interesting. Just the two of us, battling it out?" Lina asked.

"That's the idea. Do you accept, Lina Inverse?" Lorelei smirked.

"I do." She replied.

"Well, I don't!"

Lina and Lorelei turned around to the swordsman who had interrupted their conversation. "Gourry, what's the matter with you?" Lina questioned. She had almost forgotten that he was there, he had been so quiet.

"I'm Lina's protector. I won't let you guys fight if I can't step in and help her if something were to happen." He stated, staring at Lorelei with his sword drawn. He remembered the injuries that Lina had received in the previous duel, and he was not about to let that happen again.

"Quit being so overprotective, jellyfish-brain." Lina frowned. "I'm not helpless. I can take-"

"It's fine with me." Lorelei interjected.

"Huh?" Lina was confused.

"Really?" Gourry asked. He hadn't expected the monster to give in, and had hoped to prevent the duel altogether.

"Of course. The rules of the duel say that we're not supposed to kill each other, so if I were to endanger Lina Inverse's life, then that would give you total liberty to intervene. But only if her life is endangered, got it?" Lorelei explained.

"Alright, I guess..." He replied reluctantly. "Take it easy, okay Lina?"

"Heh, not likely." Lina spat back.

* * *

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up dancing with Zara anyway?" Lina asked. She was hanging out with Gourry and Lorelei in the courtyard, after she and the monster had finished firing strategic attacks back and forth. Lorelei had been right- it was fun! Lina remembered how good it felt to blow stuff up, and having an opponent to fight added interest to the situation. The two had gotten a few scratches, which had easily been taken care of with some recovery spells, but they had done some damage to the plants in the courtyard. The gardener would not be happy about that.

"He was the only person who actually came up and talked to me." Lorelei explained. It was the first time she'd actually had a casual conversation with Lina Inverse, and was enjoying it. Had she not been dispatched as an assassin after Lina Inverse's life, she might have liked to have the sorceress as a friend, or at least an acquaintance.

"Zara's friendly like that. He'll be nice to anybody he meets, no matter what." Gourry said.

"Yeah, I figured." Lorelei replied, wondering why this disappointed her.

"Anyway, I think the food has been restocked, and that duel made me hungry again. You ready to head back in?" Lina asked.

"Yeah!" Gourry said, jumping up to join his companion.

"I think I'll stay out here. The mood in there has really livened up. It's giving me a headache from just sitting in the courtyard. I _am _a monster after all." Lorelei replied.

"I was wondering when you were going to say that." Lina commented. "Ah, well, suit yourself. Come on, Gourry." The pair returned to the party, where they were greeted by a hyper three-year-old.

"LinaGourryyouguyscameback!" Zara yelled, throwing his hands around Lina. "ThispartyisreallyfunI'mgladwecame!"

Lina stared at the boy, and then back up at Amelia and Zelgadis. "Zara-chan is acting like he's hyped up on sugar or something." Amelia explained.

"Amelia... Zel... did you give him cake?" Lina asked suspiciously.

"He didn't eat anything! We swear!" Amelia defended.

"YeahLinaI'mnothungryatall!"

Lina stared at the boy with a blank expression. "You... haven't eaten anything at this entire party?"

"?"

The sorceress shook her head, looking at the boy with concern. "Do you think he's tired? I've heard that some kids start acting really hyper when they're sleep deprived." She asked her friends.

"ButLinaI'mnotsleepyatall!" Zara jumped up and down, and grabbed Amelia's hand. "?Thatwasreallyfun!"

"Uh, of course Zara-chan!" Amelia smiled, trying to keep up with the little boy.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis watched them go. "I think he snuck some of that cake when no one was looking." Zelgadis said.

"Yeah, me too. It's amazing what a tiny bit of sugar can do to a little kid." Gourry agreed.

Lina smirked. "Hey Zel, it looks like Zara's stolen your dancing partner." She expected to be reprimanded for her comment, but was surprised.

"Yeah, I guess so." Was all that he said.

"_Someone's _in a good mood." Lina murmured. "So how long is this party supposed to last?"

"There's not all that much time left, actually." Zelgadis replied, looking at a clock. "I wonder if Zara would be upset if I asked to dance with Amelia..."

"I don't think he'd mind all that much." Gourry encouraged.

"I'm afraid of having to put that kid to bed tonight. He's never going to want to go to sleep." Lina muttered unhappily.

"Give him some time. He'll crash as soon as the sugar wears off, and then we'll have trouble waking him up." Zelgadis said, as he walked toward where Zara and Amelia were dancing. Lina and Gourry watched him ask to cut in, and Zara was happy to let him.

Lina thought she should keep an eye on the three-year-old, just to make sure he didn't get his hands on any more cake, but her companion's voice stopped her.

"Lina..." Gourry began.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, I guess there's not much time left... and Amelia put so much work into trying to teach us to dance... It would be a shame for her hard work to go to waste..." He extended a hand, and looked up at her hesitantly. Lina stared at him for a moment with an indecipherable expression. It looked as if she didn't want to, and he began to pull his hand away, but she grabbed it.

"If you step on my feet, I will kill you." She said seriously.

"Y-yeah! Okay! I promise, I won't!" He replied with a smile so big that Lina couldn't help but smile back.

And, true to his word, he didn't step on her feet even once.

* * *

-Heh, poor Lina and Gourry. They just can't get a break, can they? First Zara, and now Lorelei. Well, at least they got a little moment there at the end. Speaking of those two- Zara and Lorelei? Don't they make the cutest couple ever? Sorry to be rude, but I don't care if you think otherwise. They're my OCs and I can pair them up if I wanna! Lorelei's getting nicer, I think. She's softening up toward Lina and her friends (especially Zara *wink wink*.) This chapter had pretty much no action, so the next chapter will be a bit more exciting. :3 R&R!-


	11. 11:Trapped! Another dangerous situation?

-When I was about halfway through this chapter, I was really annoyed with it- if kind of felt pointless. But then I realised that this provides the emotional turning point for Lorelei- she needs sufficient emotional provocation to rethink her assignment to kill Lina... and the only way I figured to do that was to put her together with Zara and let them talk about their feelings! Yay, right? Nya~ whatever. Boring chapter, but sweet. Enjoy the fluffiness. And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. :3-

* * *

**11- Trapped! Another dangerous situation?**

"Lina, I'm not sure we're even going the right way." Zelgadis said, holding the light in his hand out to examine the stone blocks that made up the underground structure.

"I'm just following the treasure map!" Lina shot back. She had found a mysterious map that seemed to point to treasure, and since Lina liked treasure quite a lot, she didn't want this opportunity to go to waste. The map had led them to a strange underground building, that seemed more like a maze- each corridor leading to another, with lots of confusing turns and disappointing dead ends.

"Why are we doing this anyway? I thought you wanted to get Zara home as soon as possible. You know, the whole 'getting him out of danger' thing." Gourry pointed out.

"Yeah, Miss Lina. You yell at us for causing delays, and here you are taking a side trip of your own. I don't see what the big deal with this treasure is." Amelia said.

"It's treasure! What more do you want?" Lina spat. "Anyway, we should be getting close. This map is a bit hard to read, but it's been completely correct about all the passageways in this place. Whoever drew it knew what they were doing."

Lina found a secret door on the side of the wall, just where the map said there would be one. They came out into a long, dark hallway, so long that they couldn't see the end of if even with Zelgadis and Amelia's light spells. Suddenly, the door behind them closed shut, and they were left in the dark corridor.

"Oh no! The door! We're trapped!" Amelia yelled, pounding on the stone wall.

"Calm down, Amelia. That was supposed to happen. I think..." Lina reassured her, looking down at the map in the dim light. "I can't tell whether it says anything about this hallway; the writing is so hard to read."

Zelgadis looked at the map too. "Honestly, it's pretty bad. This map looks like it was drawn by a five-year-old."

"Hey, stone-face! Don't say that! I worked really hard making that map!"

The voice was too familiar now to mistake. The group turned around to the monster who had been waiting for them in the hallway. Zara was the only one that smiled.

"Lorelei! What are you doing here? Are you looking for treasure too?" He asked happily, not noticing the angry glares of his friends.

Zelgadis ignored Zara. "You mean_ you_ made this map?" He growled. He didn't like Lorelei's new nickname for him.

Lorelei answered Zara first. "Actually I'm not here after treasure. I'm really after Lina Inverse, so if you'll excuse me..." She reluctantly pushed the small boy aside and addressed the rest of the group. "Yeah, I made that map- and it turns out that the rumours about Lina Inverse's love for treasure were true! You fell straight into my trap!" The monster laughed.

"A trap?" Lina asked furiously. She was not happy with the prospect of having been tricked by the little monster.

"That's right. You see, a long time ago, this place really was home to treasure, so the builders put in a bunch of traps and other things to ensnare any possible thieves. This place is a deadly maze, and I'm familiar with every inch of it. My father and I used to come here to study the traps."

"D-deadly traps?" Gourry asked uncertainly.

"That's right, jellyfish-brain, and I'm the only one who knows how they work." Lorelei teased.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THE NAMES?" Lina snarled.

"Sorry, sorry." Lorelei apologised. "Anyway, you'll all be dead in a while, so there's no reason for me to stick around."

"Wait! What are you going to do?" Amelia asked.

"I guess I can tell you that, since there doesn't seem to be any way you can escape from this one." The monster sighed. "First of all, I'm taking this guy with me." She grabbed Zara's hand.

"With you? Where are we going? Is it someplace fun? Can Lina come too?" The three-year-old asked excitedly.

"Eh, not exactly..." Lorelei replied, blushing slightly. "Anyway, I just have to trigger this room's trap, and you all will be stuck here. This chamber is magically sealed, so you can't use magic to escape. Pretty useful, no?" The monster grinned. "Now let's see how long it's going to take you to drown!"

Lorelei stepped on a particular stone on the floor, which gave way under the pressure of her foot. Triggered by the stone, trapdoors opened up in the walls and water began pouring into the corridor at an increasing rate.

"Th-this place is going to fill up with water!" Amelia shouted.

"That's right." Lorelei said. "Well, this is no place for us to be, so let's get going, Zara."

...

"I said, let's get going."

...

"Why am I not teleporting?" Lorelei was suddenly frustrated. The water level was beginning to rise over the toes of her yellow boots. She let go of Zara's hand and flew up to avoid the rising water.

"Didn't you say that this place is magically sealed? Wouldn't that mean that you couldn't escape using teleportation either?" Zelgadis asked.

Lorelei looked stunned for a minute. "I... I didn't think about that..."

"You stupid monster! You got trapped in your own plan!" Lina reprimanded.

"Um, Lina, maybe we should be worrying about getting out of here first." Gourry said, picking up Zara. The rising water was reaching past the boy's waist now.

"No! It isn't fair! I didn't think about this! I'm a bird! I can't swim!" Lorelei was ranting.

"Miss Lorelei, we need to focus on getting out of here!" Amelia exclaimed. "We have plenty of time. The water isn't rising _very_ fast..."

"But we haven't gotten to the real trap yet." Lorelei murmured.

"The... _real trap_?" Lina asked hesitantly. As she said that, there was a rumbling noise and the whole subterranean structure seemed to quake. Suddenly, there was an enormous wall of water engulfing the group. Amelia began to scream, but was cut off by the water around her. The current was strong, and the friends were tossed around as they were carried down the passageway. Gourry had grabbed Lina's hand, but the surge of water was too strong and her hand was wrenched from his.

"Lina-!" He called, but his voice didn't carry through the thick, pitch-black water.

* * *

When Amelia regained consciousness, she managed to sit up. The water had filled the extensive hallway and was not quite deep enough to reach her ankles if she were standing. Creating a ball of light, she looked around for her companions. "Mister Zelgadis? Miss Lina? Mister Gourry? Zara-chan? Miss Lorelei?"

No answer came.

Amelia got up, trying to wring some of the water out of her soaked clothing. She was beginning to panic, but she knew that she had to think logically if she were going to find her friends.

_Let's see... Miss Lina and Mister Gourry are strong swimmers, so they should be fine... and when we were at the beach, Zara-chan said that he could swim as well... Miss Lorelei I shouldn't have to worry about since she's a monster... but what about Mister Zelgadis?_ She thought to herself. _I don't doubt that he could swim, but with his body the way it is... _Amelia remembered when they had once used him as an anchor for a boat. It had been quite comical at the time, but the thought suddenly pushed her to the verge of horror. _No matter how well he could swim, he'd sink like... well, like a rock! _She realised.

The small sparks of alarm turned into full blown panic as Amelia raced down the hallway, her boots splashing with every step. The hallway was straight and monotonous, and she rushed forward, her eyes closed, focusing entirely on her own thoughts. She wasn't looking in front of her or behind her, and didn't see a set of stairs in front of her illuminated by a separate light. Her foot struck against the first step painfully, and she lost her balance and toppled over. Amelia clenched her teeth, waiting for the moment of impact when she would crash agonizingly against the stone floor, but it didn't come. Instead, she suddenly realised that someone had caught her.

"Geez, Amelia, watch where you're going. You're going to get hurt if you don't."

The familiar voice brought her out of her panicked state. "Mister Zelgadis!" She cried, throwing her arms around the chimera. "You're okay! I was so worried... so worried about you!" Amelia sobbed.

Zelgadis' blush was evident, even in the dim light. "You worried about me? _I_ was the one worrying about _you_! I was so afraid that..."

"Afraid of what?" Amelia asked, still hugging him.

"Oh, I don't know... when you're panicked like that, you can't help but make us some crazy, worst-case scenario." He answered.

"Yeah, that's true." She agreed. "I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to swim because you'd sink... and then..." Amelia's face clouded at the thought. "...but, I know you're much stronger and smarter than that, Mister Zelgadis."

Zel smiled at Amelia's words. "Thanks Amelia. I was actually afraid of that myself... but just because we can't use magic to bust out of here doesn't mean we can't use it altogether. Did you know that Levitation works underwater?"

"Oh, Mister Zelgadis! You're so resourceful!" Amelia beamed.

"A-anyway, we should try to find Lina, Gourry, and Zara. Once we find everyone, we can figure out how to get out of this place." He said, pulling slightly away from Amelia's grasp.

"Right! Of course!" Amelia agreed happily. She followed Zelgadis down the dark hallway, with her hand still firmly grasped around his.

* * *

"Lina? Zara? Guys? Anybody? Can you hear me?"

Gourry sighed. He had been calling for a long time, but hadn't received an answer. His foot hit a loose rick and he almost tripped.

"Aah! I can't see a thing! It's times like this that I wish I still had the Sword of Light..." The thick darkness surrounding him was almost impenetrable- even with his sharp eyesight, he could only make out the vague shapes of the walls and floor of the hallway. He splashed onward though the corridor, looking for any sign of his companions, any sign at all. Suddenly, in the dim light, he could make out a figure lying some distance in front of him. Even in the darkness of the subterranean edifice, he knew exactly who it was.

"Lina!" He called, running up to her. Lina was unresponsive. He sat, pulling her up beside him. "Lina, come on! Wake up! Lina!" The limp form of the sorceress did not stir, and Gourry began to panic. By instinct, he checked to make sure she was breathing. The sound of Lina's slow, steady breath brought a sigh of relief from the swordsman. She was alive. At least she was alive.

It wasn't possible to be totally sure in the darkness, but she didn't seem to have any major injuries- aside from a large bump on her head.

_She must have hit it pretty hard. No wonder she's out cold. _Gourry thought. His mind remembered the surge of water- he had grabbed her hand, but couldn't keep a hold of it as they were swept away by the current.

Gourry clutched her tighter at the memory. It shouldn't matter now. She was here, safe, if not completely unharmed. Soon, she'd wake up and they would find everyone else and get out of this crazy place. He stood back up, and picked Lina up as well. Continuing down the hallway, he searched for the rest of his companions, carrying Lina with him.

* * *

All Lorelei remembered was the sudden rush of water. She had been dragged down, mostly by her wings. The feathers were normally waterproof, but this volume of water dragged them down and made them heavy. She couldn't swim, couldn't breathe, couldn't see. And then everything went black, until...

"Hey! Lorelei! Are you okay?"

The monster opened her eyes to see a little boy, holding out a tiny spark of a fireball for illumination. His eyes displayed a look of relief at seeing her awake.

"Z-Zara?" She asked. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"You looked like you needed some help, with the water and all." Zara explained. "You know, even with those big wings, you're way lighter than you look."

Lorelei blushed. "Oh, all birds are that way. See, we have hollow bones. It's an adaptation to increase aerodynamics." She enjoyed boasting about her heritage... but wait! Did he just tell her that she was lighter than she looked? Did that mean that he had attempted to support her when she was drowning?

"Zara, did you... did you save me?" Lorelei asked hesitantly.

"I helped you out." Zara replied, in his usual, blunt manner.

"But... _why_?" Lorelei was confused. She was a monster- the race that he seemed to fear the most. She was attempting to kill Lina Inverse- the young woman whom Zara absolutely adored. He'd told Lorelei so when they danced at the party a few days back. Why would he save _her_ of all people?

"_Because_," He said, matter-of-factly, "if I didn't help you, you'd drown."

Because she would drown.

That was it?_ Because she would drown?_

Zara had answered Lorelei's question, yet he hadn't answered it, and she was still curious. "But why would you care if I drowned?" She continued to ask.

"'Cause you're my friend!" He answered back with a smile.

His friend.

Was she really? Honestly? _His friend?_

"Zara..." She began, but stopped. What was she going to ask him anyway? "I, uh... you... really think that I'm your friend?"

"Of course!" Zara replied. "You're a good friend! Weren't we going somewhere? Where was it? And why can't Lina come?"

"Erm, I'll get to that. Why in the world would you say that I'm your friend?" She replied with another question.

Zara thought for a moment. "I don't know. We are always hanging out together... and you seem pretty nice... not at first, but I know you're nice now... and you played with me at the party... and now we're going to go somewhere fun together..." He looked back up at her. "I don't really have any other friends who are kids like me."

Lorelei almost flinched when he called her a kid, but she stopped. Obviously he really thought that they were friends. After everything Lorelei had done to harass him and his companions, he thought she was his friend. It was incredible.

"I don't have any other friends who are kids like me either..." Lorelei admitted. "...actually I don't really have any other friends at all now to tell the truth..."

"Why not?" Zara asked.

"Well, my father was my only friend... but we got separated a long time ago...and I don't know where he is right now..." She sighed.

"Oh. You miss your dad a lot, don't you?" The three-year-old observed.

"Yeah. More than anything." She murmured sadly.

"How long have you two been separated?"

"Oh, just over a hundred years or so."

"That's a long time."

"Yeah, it sure is."

For what seemed like another hundred years, neither of them spoke. Then, unexpectedly, Zara gave Lorelei a comforting hug. It wasn't like Amelia's death grip of love, but more of a small, consoling hug that brought lots of happy memories flooding back into Lorelei's mind. "I would be super-duper sad if anything ever happened to Lina." He said thoughtfully.

Lorelei nodded. "It's kind of like that."

They both sat quietly some more, both thinking separate thoughts. Zara's mind was on his friends- Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis, and what he would ever do if he lost any of them. Lorelei's thoughts were more complicated.

She and Zara had just shared a terribly emotional moment that, if under different circumstances, would make her sick to the point of running away. But she didn't feel the slightest bit of negativity coming from their conversation. She wasn't hurt by Zara's friendship at all. But why? Lorelei considered the boy for a bit longer. He had apparently rescued her when she was drowning. That would take a lot of strength, plus good swimming skills. Neither of which a normal three-year-old would have. She had, more than once, underestimated Zara's power in battle and payed for it. He was incredibly strong; so much that it was nearly inhuman...

That was it. It made sense now.

Zara wasn't human.

He couldn't be.

The more Lorelei thought about it, the more it made sense. The boy possessed magical power that stretched beyond what a normal human should have. He didn't seem to grasp how powerful this really was, because he was travelling with Lina Inverse and her friends, who were about as far from normal as one could get. Not only that, but his emotions didn't affect her the way a normal human's would. His smiles, laughs, and hugs of affection, which should have turned the face of a monster a sickly green colour, caused shades of red and pink to colour her face instead.

It was strange- because in all honesty Zara seemed like a normal human. He looked like a human. He acted like a human. The very aura surrounding him was, in fact, a human aura. Lorelei knew that. But there was something suspiciously inhuman about the boy that she just couldn't place...

"Zara," She began, suddenly curious to know more about the boy. "Who are your parents?"

"Lina and Gourry." He didn't even have to stop and think about it.

"No, I mean your real parents." She knew that Zara was not Lina Inverse's child. Anyone could tell easily by looking at them that they weren't related at all.

"They're real!" Zara felt the need to defend the sorceress and swordsman that he had grown to care for.

"No, erm, I mean... do you know who your biological parents are?" Lorelei clarified.

"What's 'biological'?" Zara wanted to know.

"That is... um... well... it's..." Lorelei stammered. "I'll... uh... tell you later. When you're older. Forget that I asked the question, okay?"

"Okay." Zara replied with a puzzled expression on his face.

"We need to find the exit- the thing that stops the trap from working and allows people to escape. I know where it is... if only I knew where we were..." Lorelei contemplated their surroundings. She created a large ball of light energy that added greatly to the distance that they could see using Zara's diminutive fireball. The monster noticed faint engravings on the walls. "Here! This is it! I know where we are now!" She exclaimed. The exit should be right down this way if we follow the correct distance!" She took off running, but was stopped by Zara's voice.

"What about Lina? Is she coming?"

Lorelei looked down at her friend. "Well, Lina Inverse is..."

"I don't want to go _anywhere_ without Lina." Zara asserted.

The monster stared at the little boy, her mind recalling a voice from long ago that was just as clear now as it had been that day...

"_What's wrong my dear? You're strong, and with that staff there's nothing you couldn't defeat. Why are you still so dependent on me for support?"_

"_Because, father, I don't want to go _anywhere _without you." _

_The monster had brought his eyes down on his small companion and said with an air of pre-eminence, "There may be a time where you will have to face challenges on your own. You must be strong, Lorelei. You are a monster after all, right?" _

"_Yeah... I'm still worried..."Lorelei said. _

"_But what? You're much too young to be worrying about that sort of thing! Now, chin up! There's lots of fun things to do rather than be worried about the future! Don't you think so?" He smiled, causing Lorelei to smile in response._

"_You're right! We can't worry about that sort of thing! After all, we're too strong to be defeated! No one will ever get between us!" _

"_That's the spirit, Lorelei!"_

"Lorelei? Lorelei?" Zara's voice broke through the monster's flashback. "What's wrong? You spaced out there for a moment."

"Oh, uh, nothing." Lorelei replied. "I was just... thinking about my father. That's all."

Zara noticed her forlorn appearance. "Why did you and your dad get separated from each other? Do you remember?" He asked.

Lorelei remembered it all too well. "There was a huge dispute between the monsters back then. Borderline civil war. It was awful. Two of the monster lords had turned against each other, and their underlings were caught up in the fight."

Zara forgot about his concern over Lina and the others, caught up in Lorelei's narrative. "What happened?" He asked.

Lorelei had been planning on telling only the basics, but had gotten caught up with the memory of it all, and began pouring out the details. "The two of us fought in most of the major battles. My father's loyalty, and thus my own, fell to the monster lord Zelas-Metallium. We defended out mistress as much as we could, but there were strong monsters fighting against us as well. He held a high position, my father, and was targeted more than any of the monsters. Naturally I sought to defend him- but the last battle of the conflict changed that. Many monsters were killed, and I was outnumbered. Against Zelas' orders, my father came to my defence. But unfortunately the opposition wanted to destroy the both of us. We were separated by their attacks and they tried to kill me, but I had more power contained in my staff than they knew, and barely escaped death. After that, I was afraid that my father had been killed, but I realised that he was much too strong for that. I tried to find someone that I knew who was still alive... but there was no one. I wandered aimlessly, trying my hardest to find my father again- or at least anyone who knew about him. I found a few leads, but they all ended up not getting me anywhere. Just a few weeks ago, I became acquainted with a powerful monster named Zaragio. He told me that he might help me find my father if I worked for him, so I readily accepted any task he could think up. It was he who sent me here in the first place."

"That's... really scary..." Zara murmured, awestruck at the immensity of his friend's story. He never knew how much pain she had been hiding all this time.

"Yeah...I still have nightmares about it." She admitted.

"Nightmares are _super_-scary." Zara agreed. "I have nightmares too. All the time, actually."

"You do?" Lorelei asked. "About what?"

Zara was reluctant to say, but remembering the bravery with which Lorelei had told her story, he mustered up the courage to explain his dreams to her. "There is a lot of fire- everything's burning. I see people, not happy people, but angry. They're mean-looking and they seem to want to attack me. There are lots of explosions and screaming and blood..." His voice trailed off. "I dream about it almost every night."

"The same dream?" Lorelei asked, surprised. Zara always seemed so happy and upbeat, it was hard to believe that he struggled with such fear at night.

"Yeah. But Lina's always there. I know I'm safe when she's around. Lorelei, who do you go to when you wake up in the middle of the night with a bad dream?" Zara asked, suddenly realising that Lorelei was alone.

"No one." She said, then seeing Zara's concerned look, continued "oh, but it's not really that bad! I'm a monster, after all, so I hardly ever actually _need_ to sleep. That was inherited from my original bird form- birds sleep while monsters don't. Plus, I usually sleep during the day, since monsters are better equipped to function at night. You really don't have to worry about me."

Zara nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Whenever I wake up scared, Gourry or Amelia always sits with me and protects me until I fall asleep again. Amelia says that thinking thoughts of Love and Justice before I go to bed will keep nightmares away. I tried it. It doesn't work all that well..."

Lorelei cringed at the thought. Filling her mind with... ugh... Love and Justice before bed would probably give her even _worse_ nightmares. "That princess girl is a trip, huh?" She laughed. "I wonder what that stone-faced guy sees in her anyway..."

"Hey Lorelei?"

"Yeah, what?" The monster turned her attention to the little boy beside her.

"Why were all those monsters fighting in the first place? I thought that monsters only attacked humans." He said.

The question was abrupt, but Lorelei recognised it. She had asked her father the same thing when the fighting broke out. "Because..." She began, remembering what she had been told, "... there are good and bad monsters out there- just like there are good and bad humans. But the difference between good and bad depends on your point of view. Unlike justice and evil, good and bad can be disputed by point of view. Both groups of monsters thought that they were the good ones and that the other group was bad. But in actuality, neither of them were evil or just, they simply had differing perspectives."

"Okay. That makes sense." Zara said, nodding. "But what makes a monster good or bad- in your opinion anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose I'd go with the explanation that my father gave me. That evil monsters do much of what they do because they've never learned to love." She replied.

"But you know how to love. You love your father, right?" Zara asked.

"Yes... I do." Lorelei replied.

"Then you're a good monster, not a bad one!" He grinned. "Now, let's find Lina and the others and get out of here." Zara said, grabbing Lorelei's hand. Her face flushed slightly.

"Right. We will."

* * *

Gourry could see a faint light down the tunnel, and recognised it. "Amelia? Zel? Is that you?" He waited for a response.

"Mister Gourry? Yes, it's us!" Amelia dashed down the hallway toward her friend's voice, practically dragging Zelgadis behind her. She still hadn't let go of his hand.

When Amelia reached Gourry, she gasped in surprise at the motionless form in his arms. "Miss Lina!" She cried. "Is... is she okay?"

"She's fine. Really. She just hit her head and was knocked unconscious. She'll be back to normal as soon as she wakes up. Trust me." He was trying to convince himself as much as he was Amelia and Zelgadis.

"That's a relief." Amelia sighed. "Right, Mister Zelgadis?"

"Yeah. It wouldn't be good for anyone if Lina got hurt." Zel nodded.

As they talked, Lina began to wake up. "Nnnnnn... Gourry?" She murmured, still half-conscious.

"Lina! You're awake! Are you alright?" He asked, trying to contain his happiness that she seemed to be okay.

"I guess... my head hurts, though..." She mumbled, putting her hand over the large bump on her head. She was suddenly cognisant of her surroundings, and realised that Gourry was holding her. "Uh... Gourry?"

"Yes, Lina?"

"I CAN WALK!" She yelled, kicking him in the face. He dropped her, and she landed on her feet.

"B-but Lina, you were kind of unconscious..." He defended.

"So? Wake me up, moron!" Lina scolded, not remembering that she probably would have gotten mad at him had he forcefully woken her up.

"Well... I tried to..."

"Try harder, idiot!"

"But you just seemed so... so... calm, and peaceful..." He said, his voice trailing off.

"How's this for peaceful, jellyfish-brain? FIREBALL!"

Amelia and Zelgadis watched the explosion, with a knowing expression on both their faces. When Gourry said that Lina would be back to normal as soon as she woke up, he wasn't kidding.

Faint voices from down the dark hallway caught their attention. "That was a Fireball! They must be this way!" A high-pitched one said.

"Lina! Lina!" The other voice called.

"It's Zara-chan! ... and Miss Lorelei too." Amelia said.

Zara rushed up to the group, throwing his arms around Lina. "We found you! I'm so glad!"

"Uh, yeah, sure..." She replied casually, pushing him away somewhat. The three-year-old turned his attention to the tall swordsman.

"Gourry!" He exclaimed, hugging him as eagerly as he had hugged Lina.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Gourry replied, reciprocating the child's gesture.

"Zara-chan, don't I get a hug too?" Amelia asked.

"Of course, Amelia!" Zara said, throwing his arms around the princess.

"Are you pathetic humans going to quit it with the mushy stuff already? You're making me sick. I just want to get out of here- and I'm sure you do too." Lorelei asserted. Her openness that she'd had with Zara had quickly faded and been replaced by her usual arrogance.

"I'd love to get out of here. But can you do that, monster?" Lina asked angrily.

"Of course I can, Lina Inverse. Watch. You've happened to stop right in front of the correct stone." The little monster made her way over to the stone, which, under closer inspection, had strange engravings on it. The characters reminded Lina of the strange text that had been found in the books that they had confiscated from that group of bandits. The one that had kidnapped Zara.

Lorelei began tracing the characters with her finger, murmuring something unintelligible under her breath.

"And...?" Lina asked hopefully. She suddenly realised that whatever Lorelei was doing right now, it might be another trap. She braced herself for another attack. Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and Lina opened her eyes. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness of the subterranean structure, and the glaring sunlight added to her headache.

"Ow, my head..." She grumbled.

"We're back! We're outside!" Amelia celebrated.

"Thanks goodness for that." Zelgadis added.

"Alright, birdbrain, it looks like you really did find us a way out of that crazy maze. But what are you going to do now? You still want to kill me, right?" Lina approached Lorelei.

Lorelei looked up in surprise. She hadn't thought about it. Certainly that had been her master's orders- destroy Lina Inverse.

But... there was Zara.

Zara loved Lina Inverse with the same devotion that Lorelei had felt- _still felt_- for her father. The little monster remembered too well how painful it had been to lose her father- would Zara feel the same way if she were to kill Lina Inverse?

"Not... not this time, Lina Inverse." Lorelei said softly.

"Huh? Really?" Lina asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Just be wary for my next attack." The monster instructed, disappearing from view.

"She's gone. That idiot." Lina muttered angrily. She hadn't even gotten a chance to throw a Fireball at the person who had caused them so much trouble.

"Goodbye! See you again soon!" Zara waved happily in the direction that Lorelei had dematerialised. The little boy felt his life slowly filling with meaning. He already had parents in Lina and Gourry, and friends in Amelia and Zelgadis. But now, there was someone else for him as well. Zara now had a _best friend._

_

* * *

_-Ah, Lorelei. Thank you for your attempt to preserve Zara's innocence. It is greatly appreciated. XD Haha! So the next chapter gets things even more exciting- Zara's dreams become even more disturbing, and an attempt to get help from Xellos proves to be dangerous... R&R! :3-


	12. 12: Gasp! Two attacks in one day!

-Ah, Happy actual Thanksgiving everyone. I got to see my little cousin today- he's so cute! He is two and a half, so he's about a year younger than Zara. He's so incredibly adorable, and he can't quite pronounce my name correctly, so when he says it, it ends up sounding like 'Ai', which happens to be Japanese for 'love.' Nyaaa~ cuteness overload! Ah, whatever, enjoy this chapter. And also a warning: if you're freaked out by the concept of death, be careful when reading the part about Zara's dream. You were officially warned.-

* * *

**12- Gasp! Two attacks in one day?**

It was particularly late at night, but Lina and her friends had been kept awake by the insomnia of the issues that they were facing. Zara was sleeping fitfully, but this was unnoticed by his companions who were sitting around the campfire discussing what they were going to do.

"We need to talk to Xellos." Lina said firmly.

"But what if he won't help us? You know he probably won't." Zelgadis replied.

"Still, there's no reason we can't try! If you never try, then you certainly will never succeed in anything, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia exclaimed.

"I agree with Zel. I don't like that guy; he's kind of creepy. The less we have to do with him, the better." Gourry said. Lina whacked him over the head.

"Shut up moron! Xellos knows the most about monsters of any person that we know. He's crafty and immature, I'll give you that, but we need help with a monster problem and there's no better person that we could get the help from!"

Zelgadis nodded reluctantly. "I suppose you're right... though I don't like the prospect of being in debt to Xellos if he thinks that helping us is something we'll have to pay him back for."

"I didn't think of that, but you're correct. I do _not_ want to be in debt to a monster, especially _that _monster." Lina agreed.

"So... have we decided on anything yet?" Amelia asked. "Are we going to ask him, or aren't we?"

"Well..." Lina murmured, still thinking it over. She wasn't quite sure what to do. She wanted to help Lorelei, and the easiest thing to do seemed to be getting an expert of that area to help them. But getting help from Xellos was no easy task...

Suddenly, a piercing scream stopped the conversation in its tracks. Everyone turned swiftly to see their three-year-old companion sitting bolt upright in his sleeping bag, his eyes wide open in fright, his face incredibly pale, clutching the blanket with conviction. He was gasping for breath, and slowly his gasps turned into sobs. "L-Lina... Lina!"

The group moved to sit around the child for support. He grabbed on to Lina and wouldn't let go, still crying. She had to forcefully remove his hands from around her waist, and sit him back on the bed in order to talk to him.

"What's the matter with you? You'll wake up the entire forest screaming like that." She chided.

"I had a really bad dream..." He murmured uneasily.

"Come here, Zara-chan. Tell us what happened." Amelia opened her arms, offering a hug to the scared little child who happily accepted it.

"Was it the same dream you've been having over and over?" Zelgadis asked. He wasn't very good at comforting children, not like Amelia, but he knew from experience that recurring dreams usually had some meaning to them, especially the scary ones. They were sometimes flashbacks to a painful memory of the past... and sometimes premonitions of the future.

"Sort of the same, but different too." Zara replied, wiping the tears away from his eyes.

"What happened?" Amelia asked the little boy who was now sitting on her lap.

"Well, there was the fire everywhere, and these really mean-looking people who were attacking..."

"That's the same as before." Gourry observed.

"But Lina was there too." The little boy added.

There was a collective gasp, and a glance thrown around the small circle. Everyone was a bit unnerved, most of all Lina. She had been in his dream? This could either be a really good or really bad sign, and since he had woken up screaming, she guessed the latter.

"You... you dreamed about Miss Lina? What was she doing?" Amelia asked.

Zara nodded. "She was trying to protect me from the evil people. As long as she was standing between us, I felt really safe... but..."

"But what?" Gourry asked tentatively. He wasn't sure he liked the way this dream was going.

"The people... the just kept attacking... she was outnumbered... they hurt her... really badly... I tried to get her to wake up, but she wouldn't! She was just lying there, and I tried to wake her up again and again... but she wouldn't... and she was so still and cold... and then the people came after me too... and I didn't know what to do now... I was all alone... then there was this big explosion... and... and..." The boy fell into a sobbing heap on Amelia's lap.

The faces of the group had all turned a deathly pale colour, especially Gourry and Lina.

"So... they killed her?" Zelgadis asked with difficulty.

Zara didn't answer, he just continued to cry. He turned his attention from the princess back to the sorceress, wrapping his arms around her again. "Lina... please don't die... don't die Lina!"

This time Lina didn't attempt to separate herself from his grasp. She was too astonished. "I'm not going to die, Zara." She assured him.

"Wait! Is that all that happened?" Amelia asked, trying to get all of the details. "Was it just Miss Lina, or were other people there too?"

"There... there were the people attacking us..." Zara said.

"No, I mean any of us? Was Mister Zelgadis there? Or me? What about Mister Gourry?"

Zara thought hard for a minute. "You two weren't there at all... but Gourry was... I think..."

"You think? How would you not know?" Lina questioned.

"Well... I couldn't see him... but I could feel him..." Zara answered cryptically.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Lina asked, throwing a glance at her swordsman companion.

"He wasn't there physically... but I could sense that he knew what was going on... and he was angry... because he knew those people were going to kill Lina and me... and he couldn't do anything about it..."

"Where could you sense him? Just around you?" Zelgadis asked.

"Uh... in the flames I think..." Zara replied.

"The... flames?" Gourry asked. This dream was going from frightening to downright bizarre.

"I think so... Lina! It was so scary!" Zara hugged Lina again.

"It'll be alright..." Lina soothed. No one was going to try and pull the 'it was just a dream' stunt. They all knew that this dream probably held more meaning than the terrified boy realised.

Amelia managed to put the boy back to sleep, using a speech about how the Justice of True Love could overcome any obstacle, even death, and so on. The others went back to sitting around the campfire. They weren't listening to Amelia's speech, but none of them spoke. Zara's dreams had been strange enough when they didn't involve any of the people they knew. Now, all of a sudden, he was dreaming about Lina... and the events definitely weren't favourable.

"Zara-chan is asleep now. Hopefully he won't be having any more nightmares tonight." Amelia said, joining her friends.

"Well, this definitely sheds some light on the nature of his dreams." Zelgadis finally commented.

"How so?" Gourry asked.

"I thought at first that they might be recollections of his past that had stayed locked in his subconscious when his memory was erased... but that can't be right. He didn't know Lina and Gourry before his memory was erased." Zel explained.

"But if it's not a scene from his past, then what could it be?" Lina asked, fearing the answer that she already knew.

"It could be a premonition of the future." Zelgadis replied.

"But why? Why would Lina have to defend Zara against a group of people? Who are they? And why wasn't I there to do anything?" Gourry yelled, releasing much of his pent up anxiety. The thought of Lina being killed without him there to protect her was something he didn't want to have to consider.

"Mister Gourry, calm down." Amelia said, as surprised as Lina and Zelgadis at the swordsman's outburst. "Maybe it's just symbolic."

"Symbolic?" He asked, relaxing a bit.

"Yeah. Didn't Zara say something about flames? Flames can be symbolic for a lot of things." Lina pointed out.

"And if it's really symbolic, that means that Lina might not literally die." Zelgadis replied.

"That's true." Amelia said. "But if it really is symbolic, what could it all mean?"

"I don't know..." Lina murmured, her voice trailing off. "I guess we should go ahead and get some sleep so that we can think about it in the morning."

None of them slept very well that night.

* * *

After eating breakfast, the group continued along the path they were following, discussing the matters that had not been settled the night before.

"We're going to ask Xellos for help and that's final." Lina stated.

"You're right Miss Lina! Any person who has a heart would want to help someone in need!" Amelia agreed.

"But that brings us to another question. Does Xellos even have a heart?" Zelgadis asked.

"Everything has a heart, Mister Zelgadis."

"You think? Some monsters can be pretty heartless if you ask me." Lina replied.

"Oh, but I'm sure that deep down, they really do have a heart." Amelia said.

"Yeah. They must." Gourry added.

"It seems that only Lina doubts that every creature has a heart." Zelgadis observed. "So that leads up to yet another question. Does _Lina_ have a heart?"

Gourry, Amelia, and Zara stared at Lina along with Zelgadis.

"WHAT? I do have a heart! I do!" Lina defended.

"You have to admit, she's right. She must have a heart somewhere. After all, how else would she and Mister Gourry-"

"Shut up, Amelia! That doesn't prove anything! Maybe I don't have a heart after all!" Lina snapped back, her face slightly reddening. "We're supposed to be focused on Xellos, remember? That heartless monster..."

"Oh, dear me. I hope my friends aren't saying anything bad about me behind my back. That would certainly have bad consequences if I were to find out."

Lina and her friends turned around suddenly. "What do you know? That trickster showed up after all! How long have you been standing there, Xellos?" Lina addressed the monster.

"Oh, just long enough to hear you say that you don't have a heart. That's quite a tragedy, Miss Lina." Xellos smirked.

"Shut up! You're not even part of that conversation!" The sorceress snapped.

"Mister Xellos, can I ask you something?" Amelia questioned.

"Of course, Princess. You know that you can always ask me anything." The monster replied, smiling.

"Really?" Zelgadis asked suspiciously.

"Certainly. But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to answer it, of course."

"Of course." The chimera mumbled.

"Ah, Mister Xellos... do you have a heart?" Amelia asked hesitantly.

Xellos grinned. "That is a secret." He replied, waving his finger tauntingly.

"We don't have time for this!" Lina yelled. "Look Xellos, we need your help with something! Will you help us out?"

"Oh!" Xellos' face took on a look of fake surprise. "What is this? Lina Inverse and friends have a problem so big that they must stoop to asking the trickster priest Xellos for his assistance? Unthinkable!"

"Quit joking around. We're serious." Lina said, giving him a stern look.

"Alright, if you really are serious, then I am obligated to listen. But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help, you know."

"Oh, we know alright." Zelgadis said, looking angrily at the monster.

Xellos sat down, making himself comfortable under one of the trees while he waited for Lina to explain the situation. She began hesitantly.

"You see... there's this monster that we've been having some trouble with lately, and we wanted to know if there was anything you could tell us about her."

"A monster, eh? What is this monster like?" Asked Xellos, a twinge of suspicion in his voice.

"Well... she's some sort of bird monster... goes by the name of Lorelei. She acts like a little girl, but she's much smarter than she lets on. Well, does that name ring any bells?"

Xellos' expression was undecipherable. "What does she look like?"

"She looks like a human child, about five or six years old, with pink hair, a pink shirt, and yellow skirt, kind of like a neon sign. She's got these crazy-looking wings too- I think her wingspan is longer than she is tall. And she carries around this weird staff." Lina explained.

Xellos' expression still did not change. "What about this staff? Where did she get it and what does it do?"

_What is this, twenty questions? _Lina thought irritably. She was getting fed up with all the information that Xellos was requesting, but perhaps it meant that he was taking an interest in the situation and might help them. "It's a magical staff powered by shadow magic. It's really powerful and apparently her father made it for her. Is there anything else you need to know?"

"You know a lot about this monster, Miss Lina." Xellos said unemotionally.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Look, we just need your help in figuring out what to do about Lorelei. Are you going to help us or not?" Lina was done with Xellos' questions.

The monster was silent for a moment, a strange expression on his face. The suddenly, he did something no one had expected. He began to laugh.

"Ahahahaha, oh Miss Lina, I see what you're doing. If a good laugh is what you're after, I'd be happy to laugh with you. It's funny!" He laughed some more.

Lina stood, flabbergasted. She had just outright asked for his help. And he was laughing at her. Laughing at her! "Hey now! What are you doing? I'm being serious here! If you don't tell us what you know about Lorelei, I'm going to-"

"I told you to _laugh_, Lina." Xellos stated coldly, sending a glance of his deep-purple eyes at the sorceress.

Lina backed away, startled. "Eh, I uh... well... what are you doing anyway? All I asked for was your help with the situation we have concerning this monster, Lorelei... I don't see what you are so-"

"If you're going to laugh at this, now would be the time to do it, Lina Inverse. I'm not going to warn you again." Xellos stared back at her with a dark glare that unnerved Lina.

"Mister Xellos, what's wrong with you?" Amelia asked. She reached out towards the monster, but Zelgadis held her back.

"Yeah Xellos, what's got you crazy all of a sudden? We just wanted a little help. If you're too busy or something, then that's your problem. You can just ignore us and get on with your life. But you don't need to get mad at us!" Lina yelled.

"Tell me something, Miss Lina, and don't even think about lying to me. Would you be disappointed if I were to simply ignore your little request and go on with my life?" The monster asked, his fierce look still focused on the sorceress.

Lina backed away a bit more. "Uh, in all honesty, yes. I _would_ be pretty disappointed."

"Yes, because it would ruin you fun, wouldn't it?" Xellos chided.

"Fun? What fun? What's so fun about having some little annoying monster following me around attacking me all the time? I just need you to talk to Lorelei is all!" Lina defended.

Xellos swung his staff toward Lina and held the glowing tip threateningly in front of her face. Lina didn't even have time to flinch. She stared in incredulity at the staff. "I warned you. This has stopped being funny Miss Lina. I would drop the subject if I were you. _Immediately._" Xellos advised. He pressed the sharp point at the end of the staff threateningly toward her neck.

"FIREBALL!" Lina instinctively defended herself. The monster was shot back a few feet. The smoke cleared and Xellos regained his balance.

He responded to her attack, his eyes closed playfully again. "Tsk, tsk. Very naughty of you Lina Inverse; going to all this trouble to trick me, and then attacking me when I figure out your little charade. I may get in some trouble with my master for harming you, but in my defence, you _were_ the one who attacked me first." He shot a dark attack at Lina, which she barely managed to dodge. The tree behind her was hit and knocked over with a deafening crash.

"Going to all the trouble to do what? What in the world are you talking about, Xellos?" Lina demanded.

"Are you honestly still playing dumb with me, Miss Lina? I assume you went to a lot of trouble for this. After all, takes a great deal of work to find out so many accurate details regarding a monster who has been dead for over a hundred years." Xellos' eyes were focused on Lina again.

"Dead? What do you mean? Obviously we're not talking about the same monster! Lorelei's not dead- she's trying to kill _me_!" Lina defended.

"Oh, don't be silly. With all the research you did, you must certainly know that Lorelei was killed in a mazoku battle about a hundred years ago, do you not?" He asked.

Lina and her friends stared at Xellos, not sure what to say. He said that Lorelei had been killed, but the Lorelei they knew was very much alive. It didn't make sense. Suddenly, Zara spoke up.

"She didn't die!" He yelled. Xellos turned his gaze to the boy, but Zara didn't even flinch. "She was defending Zelas-Metallium and got separated from her father in the battle, and they tried to kill her but she was too strong and didn't die!" He'd said the entire sentence in one breath, eyeing Xellos warily, waiting for a response. The monster dropped to eye level with the boy, and Zara had to work hard to suppress the urge to run and hide behind Lina.

"How do you know this?" Xellos asked directly.

"Because Lorelei told me. And she's my best friend, so she wouldn't lie to me."

"_B-best friend_? Since when?" Lina yelled. How had Zara and Lorelei become so close without her noticing?

"I see." Xellos murmured, ignoring Lina's comment. "Well, if that's the case, then I have a little investigating to do. I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but I must make a report to my master regarding this information. Farewell for the time being." He stood back up, and phased away, leaving Lina and her friends staring dumbfounded at the place where the monster had stood- and at the little boy.

"Well, ignoring the fact that Xellos went crazy, almost killed me, and then totally blew us off- since when are you and Lorelei _best friends_?" Lina fumed.

"Since two days ago." Zara replied. "When we were at that underground place. Remember?"

"No, I don't remember. I was unconscious and being carried around by an idiot!" Lina smacked Gourry on the arm.

"Ow! I said I was sorry!" He groaned.

"But we know that Xellos is acquainted with Lorelei. That helps us, right?" Zelgadis said, attempting to keep the conversation on-subject.

"Yeah. He was acting really strange too. You don't think..." Amelia's voice trailed off.

"Don't think what?" Lina asked.

"That... I don't know... there may be some connection between Mister Xellos and Lorelei's father...?"

"I didn't think about that..." Lina murmured. "Come on! What are we standing around for? We can walk and talk at the same time, can't we? Let's get moving! As long as Xellos is slightly berserk, I'm not leaving Zara around to fend for himself! We're within two days of Mahoutskai! We should get there by the day after tomorrow! Let's not waste any time!" And with that, she took off down the path, her companions chasing after her.

* * *

"What do you want Xellos?" An annoyed Zelas had been working on a personal project when she had been interrupted by her second-in-command.

"Lord Beastmaster," He replied, "I wish to ask your permission for a particular change in my plans."

"What now?" She murmured angrily, wondering why Xellos had to ask permission for everything he did.

"You see... I have picked up from a reliable source a possibility that Lorelei might still be alive." Xellos stated.

"Lorelei...?"

"My apprentice- the one that I protected against your orders during the battle against Dynast's army about a hundred years or so ago." Xellos reminded.

"Oh yes, _that_ one." She had always remembered Xellos' little tagalong as an annoying nuisance, and the reminder of her little spat with Dynast (with whom she was currently on good terms ) was irritating.

"Yes. I wish to take some time to search for her. I have some reliable leads so I should not take too much time in-"

"Xellos, how many times must I tell you? As long as you complete your missions that are assigned to you, I don't _care_ what you do with your free time. You know that." Zelas sighed.

"I also know that Lorelei seems to have associated herself with Lina Inverse."

Zelas poked her head up at the mention of the sorceress' name. "Ah, Lina Inverse? In that case, it is all the more reason why you should try and find you little bird friend, though I wish you would discipline her a bit more."

Xellos nodded in return. "Thank you, Lord Beastmaster." He replied, and teleported away, to once again seek out Lina Inverse.

* * *

"It's getting late, Miss Lina. It's going to start getting dark soon. Maybe we should stop and rest." Amelia said.

"Only if we can pick up again afterwards." Lina replied, not wanting their pace to be slowed.

"What is your obsession with getting Zara home early? I know we're trying to get him out of danger and everything, but you're acting as if you really don't want him around. I thought you liked him, Lina." Zelgadis asked.

Lina laughed with a laugh that was obviously forced and fake. "L-like him? No way! I hate keeping that annoying kid around! That's why we're trying our hardest to get him home as soon as possible. There's no 'liking' of anyone, got it?"

"If you say so..." Zel muttered, continuing walking.

"Hey! Look up there!" Zara yelled, running ahead of the group. "Lorelei! Hey! Lorelei!"

Lina and the others looked up to see the bird-monster perched in the high branches of a tree that was ahead of them. She turned to see Zara and the others approaching her, and fell off the branch in surprise.

"Zara?" She asked, regaining her composure. "Lina Inverse!" She turned her attention to the sorceress.

"Lorelei!" Lina spat back. "You were waiting for us in that tree, weren't you? Thinking of ambushing us, eh?"

"Ambushing...?" Lorelei asked, looking up at the tree, and then back at Lina and her friends. "Uh... yeah! That's right! That's what I was going to do! A surprise attack! Yes!" She bluffed.

"It wasn't much of a surprise, since Zara saw you first." Zelgadis commented.

"Shut up stone-face! I was going to ambush you, I just forgot!"

Zelgadis' eye twitched. "What did you just call me?"

"Hang on, Zel. Lorelei's here to kill me, not insult you. You _are_ here to kill me, right?" Lina asked.

"Of-of course I am... I'm just... well... the thing is..." Lorelei's voice trailed off. She didn't want to kill Lina Inverse. She didn't want to. She couldn't. It wouldn't be right. "I... um... actually..."

"Lorelei." A stern, deep voice behind them addressed the monster. Lina looked at the man who was approaching Lorelei. He was tall- easily as tall as Gourry, though not as heavily built. He had flame-red hair and deep jade-green eyes that had some strange quality that unnerved Lina. She couldn't look in them for too long. "I came to check and see how your quest is coming. Looks like I came at the right time," He glared with a menacing jade gaze toward the sorceress, "Lina Inverse."

Lorelei suddenly bowed her head submissively. "M-master Zaragio!" She exclaimed. "I was just about to kill Lina Inverse! I was going get it done this time for sure!"

Zaragio frowned. "That is what you have told me every time, Lorelei." He said coldly. "I have yet to see the results. It almost makes me want to rethink my offer."

Lorelei's eyes grew panicked. "Please! No!"

The tall monster gazed at Lina. Then, suddenly, he shot a beam of red energy toward the sorceress, which changed into a flaming ring that bound Lina to a nearby tree.

"Lina!" Gourry yelled. He ran to Lina's aid, but was stopped by a glowing red wall of magical energy. He struck at it with his sword, but it was no use. The shield was too strong. He, Amelia, Zelgadis, and Zara were trapped within it.

"Now, Lorelei," Zaragio began, turning to his diminutive subordinate. "here is your chance. Kill Lina Inverse."

Lina thrashed about, attempting to free herself from the flaming bondage that trapped her. She watched in trepidation as Lorelei turned her attention toward the struggling sorceress. The tiny monster lifted her staff hesitantly.

"Lorelei! Don't! You can't!" Zara yelled from behind the barrier.

"Lorelei." Zaragio looked fiercely at the little monster. "What are you waiting for? Finish her."

Lorelei trembled, looking at Lina, at her staff, and back at Lina.

"Lorelei! Please! Don't hurt Lina!" The three-year-old begged.

"Lorelei. Destroy Lina Inverse. _Now_." Zaragio commanded.

Lorelei quivered harder, looking back and forth between Zaragio and Lina. She had to! But she couldn't! She shouldn't! But she had to!

"I... I..." She stuttered.

"Lorelei! You can love! You're a good monster!"

Zara's words delivered the final blow to Lorelei's wavering resolve. She pulled the staff closer to herself.

"I... I won't! I won't do it! You can't make me kill her!" Lorelei yelled, turning to Zaragio. "Zara is my friend, and he loves Lina! I won't subject him to the same pain I felt when I lost my father!"

"I was afraid of this." Zaragio murmured coldly. The magical shields holding Lina and her friends disappeared. Lina dropped to the ground as her friends crowded around her. She didn't even hit Gourry when he wrapped his arms around her, making sure she was okay.

Zaragio shot another beam of fiery energy, this one aimed at Lorelei. It blasted through her right wing, smashing her against a tree. She fell into an unmoving smoking heap at the base of the trunk.

"Lorelei! No!" Zara yelled, rushing to his best friend's side. She was unresponsive, and he became frantic, remembering his dream that night.

Zaragio picked up Lorelei's staff, which she had dropped from his attack. He aimed it at Lina. "Sadly, it appears that Lorelei has given up on her assignment. This is disappointing. I didn't want to have to bother with you myself. " He sneered, with an oddly deranged look in his green eyes.

"So I guess if you want me dead, you'll have to kill me yourself." Lina said.

"Oh, I won't be lifting a finger, Lina Inverse." Zaragio replied maliciously. "I still have a little assassin for that purpose, don't I?" He approached the motionless Lorelei and placed her staff in her lap. "Follow my orders to-the-letter." He whispered, and turned back to Lina. "Farewell Lina Inverse." He said, and teleported away, leaving the group staring at the unconscious Lorelei.

"Lorelei! Lorelei, wake up!" Zara coaxed.

"What are we going to do now? We know that Miss Lorelei isn't going to attack us." Amelia said.

"Well, we still have to worry about that Zaragio person." Gourry said.

Lorelei began to stir, and Lina and her friends surrounded her with concerned looks. "Miss Lorelei...?" Amelia began.

Lorelei opened her eyes, but her normal pink sparkle had been lost, and been replaced with a distant red glow. Lina and her friends backed away warily. "Lorelei?" Zara asked hesitantly.

"I... will destroy Lina Inverse..." she began in a ghostly, impassive voice. "...and any_one_ or any_thing_ that gets in my way..."

* * *

-Aah! The first cliff-hanger ending! Lorelei has been possessed by Zaragio! So what will happen? Where the heck is Xellos when you need him? Nya~! *Sigh* I've been using the term monster in my stories, and this is the first time I've used the word mazoku. Obviously spell-checker had something to say about _that_... R&R :3-

* * *

This is a little drabble at the request of 'Dragon Slave ()'that I had actually thought about, but couldn't find a place to put it in the story. Just a little continuation of his confusion with Lorelei in the previous chapter-

Zara: Hey Lina, Gourry? Is 'biological' a bad word?

Lina: *sweatdrop* um, no, actually it's not. Why do you ask?

Zara: I asked Lorelei to explain it for me, and she told me that she wouldn't. Could you explain it to me?

Gourry: Of course we'll explain it! It's...um... hey Lina, what is it?

Lina: It means 'having to do with life, or living' or something like that.

Zara: I still don't get it. Could you explain more?

Gourry: What do you mean, you still don't get it?

Zara: Well, Lorelei asked me who my biological parents were, and I didn't know what she meant by that. What are 'biological parents?'

Lina: *multiple sweatdrops*_How the heck am I supposed to explain this to a 3-year-old? _Erm... well... Zara, it means the, um, parents who gave birth to you.

Zara: ? I don't understand that either. How does that work exactly?

Lina: ...Eh... well... that is... *whispers to Gourry* Help me!

Gourry: What am I supposed to do?

Lina: Distract him!

Gourry: With what?

Lina: I don't know! Something that would appeal to his short attention span! You'll think of something!

Gourry: ZARA! HEY LOOK IT'S A FLYING SAUCER!

Zara: Really? Where? ... Hey, I don't see a flying saucer. Where is it...? Lina? Gourry? Where'd they go? They were here just a minute ago... strange... Maybe I should just go ask Amelia and Zelgadis...


	13. 13: Finally! Good vs Bad monsters!

-Continuation! Haha! That was fast, wasn't it? I surprised myself, to tell the truth. But now I still have to do my homework... *sigh*Well, anyway, here's the next chapter. Don't know when the next one will be up due to homework and stuff I have going on. Hopefully soon though. ;3-

* * *

**13- Finally! Good monsters vs. Bad monsters!**

"Lorelei! Lorelei, snap out of it!" Zara's fitful cries had no effect on the possessed monster who eagerly sought her victim- Lina Inverse.

Lorelei had been possessed by Zaragio, and her conscious mind no longer had control over her body. She was blindly following her master's orders, not caring what or who she destroyed in the process.

She sprung toward Lina, her staff outstretched and ready to strike.

"Not so fast!" Lorelei's attack was intercepted by the tall swordsman. Gourry struck against her staff with his sword, and the two of them began a heated duel, their weapons clashing. Lorelei's staff was imbued with magical energy, so she had the upper hand, but Gourry's technique was nearly impenetrable and it took a good amount of time before she was able to score a hit against him. The sharp point of the spear slashed through his strong armour and the magic stunned him, sending him flying back.

"Gourry!" Lina yelled, seeing her protector hit. She saw the huge gash that the spear had left in the blue armour- it was cut nearly straight through. Lina shuddered, realising the kind of physical damage it could have done if he hadn't been wearing that armour. But the magical damage that had been done wasn't deflected by the armour at all. Gourry sat there, unable to move.

"You'd better stop now, birdbrain!" Lina threatened. "Because nobody's allowed to beat up on that idiot except for me!" Lorelei turned back to Lina impassively, without laughing or making some off-hand remark about their relationship. Her eyes simply stayed that glowing, rippling red colour.

"Miss Lina is right! If you do evil things, then the power of Love and Justice will strike you down! ELMIKIA LANCE!" Amelia attacked with a powerful move. The small monster deflected it easily with a motion of her staff, and sent the attack spiralling back at Amelia. The princess screamed as she was hit by her own attack and fell to the ground.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis cried. He rushed beside the princess to make sure that she was okay.

"M-Mister Zelgadis... there's some kind of magic in that staff...I feel like I can't move..." Zelgadis realised that the damage done by the staff had been magical instead of physical, and that casting a Recovery would be useless. He helped the princess to her feet, and then turned his attention back to the little monster. Drawing his sword, which was strengthened by his magic, he sent his attacks toward Lorelei.

The monster nimbly dodged his strikes and swung her staff toward him. The pointed tip slashed through his shoulder and he recoiled in pain. Amelia rushed to his side, inspecting his shoulder that was beginning to stain his beige cloak a dark red. Amelia began casting a Recovery.

"Mister Zelgadis, are you alright?" She asked anxiously.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's really not all that bad." He reassured her. "It just bothers me that she was able to score such a critical blow against my skin. That thing is sharp! If it had been you or anyone else, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily. Look what it did to Gourry's armour."

Amelia nodded, suddenly conscious of the battle going on around them. "Miss Lina, look out!"

Amelia didn't have to warn her. Lina was already firing attacks meant to deter the little monster, but none of them seemed to do any damage. Lorelei was using her staff to protect against trivial spells. The monster backed Lina up against a tree. Lorelei raised her staff to strike, and Lina felt the magical energy immobilising her.

"Lorelei! Stop it!" Zara rushed forward and grabbed Lorelei's hand. Lina felt a rush of panic realising that the boy was subjecting himself to an attack.

"Zara! Don't! Leave her alone! The real Lorelei can't hear you!" Lina yelled frantically. Zara did not let go. Lorelei turned to face the little boy , and Lina's fears heightened.

The monster's expression did not change as she considered Zara for a moment. Gently, she pushed him aside, separating his hand from hers. "Do not interfere with my mission." She scolded, and turned back to Lina. The sorceress was too shocked and relived that Lorelei had not attacked the little boy to realise that the monster was now attempting to attack _her_. She realised too late that Lorelei was springing toward her, with her staff ready to deliver a finishing blow to the sorceress.

"Lina!" Gourry yelled as the staff met its target.

Or, it almost did.

"I'm sorry my dear, but I can't let you kill Lina Inverse. You see, it would bring harmful repercussions to the both of us, that I highly doubt that you would appreciate. Okay?"

"Xellos!" Lina exclaimed, seeing the monster who now stood between her and Lorelei.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Lina, but I had certain things that I needed to discuss with my master. I hope I haven't come at a bad time." He said with a smirk.

"Bad timing? Are you kidding?" Lina asked.

Xellos didn't reply. He turned back to Lorelei. "Now, will you stop with this madness and listen to reason?" He asked.

Lorelei's red eyes glared at the mazoku priest. "You insist on becoming my next target. So be it." She lunged at Xellos who teleported back and forth, avoiding the pointed end of the staff.

"Oh my. You have certainly become much more violent since I saw you last, my dear." He said jokingly, but there was an undertone of concern. He knew that she had been possessed by a stronger monster, and that she would kill him if she got the chance. He shot a ball of dark energy that surrounded the tiny monster, and trapped her inside.

Teleporting to join Lina and her friends who were standing in a group, Xellos addressed them seriously. "I sealed her inside a ball of magical energy, but it won't last very long. She's strong enough to break out of it easily. We have to figure out what we're going to do. She is possessed, correct?"

"That's right. She was taken over by Zaragio, the monster who sent her to kill me." Lina informed.

"Zaragio, eh?" Xellos asked, recognising the name. "So he's still causing trouble now, is he?"

"Still causing trouble? What do you mean?" Gourry asked.

"Well, several years ago, he caused quite a stir in the monster community. Something involving a human sorceress named Veridia... I'm not very familiar with the details since I wasn't involved in it. Zaragio is not a monster under Lord Beastmaster, so the matter didn't really concern me all that much."

Lina and her friends exchanged a concerned glance. "But what are we going to do about Miss Lorelei?" Amelia asked.

"That spell Zaragio put on her is a kind of curse. I know that." Zelgadis observed.

"Really? You do?" Gourry asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, I happen to know a _lot_ about curses." The chimera responded. "I've read about this particular one before. There are only two ways to break the curse. The first, which is to destroy the person who placed the curse, is not an option since we don't know where Zaragio went. The second..." His voice trailed off.

"Wh-what is the second?" Amelia asked hesitantly.

"The second..." Xellos replied. "... to destroy the object in which the curse has been placed."

The princess gasped. "M-Mister Xellos... you don't mean..."

"Unfortunately, it looks as if there's no other option." Zelgadis said.

"No! We can't! We can't hurt Lorelei!" Zara cried.

"Zara, if we don't do something, she's going to kill all of us!" Lina exclaimed.

"B-but... it's not fair... she's my best friend... not fair..." He sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Zara." Lina said, stepping forward, but Xellos held her back.

"I apologise, Miss Lina, but I'm afraid that this is _my_ fight. If you would kindly stay out of it, it would be appreciated." He glared at Lina, causing her to back away in submission. Xellos could be annoying at times, but on occasions like this, he was downright terrifying.

The dark circle that held Lorelei inside was suddenly blasted away with a flash of dark energy. Lorelei emerged, once again focused on Lina. But Xellos stole her attention.

"Ah, you broke out of my spell. I knew you could. You're so very strong, Lorelei." He said with a mischievous smile. Lorelei glared at him, and thrust her staff toward her opponent. He teleported away and appeared behind her tauntingly. "Is that the best you've got?" He teased. Lorelei continued her attempts to attack the trickster priest, but he evaded every one of them.

"Why are none of my attacks getting through?" She wondered out loud.

"Because, my dear Lorelei, this curse is affecting your strategising skills. You're simply not as astute as you would be in another situation... although..." Xellos considered Lorelei for a moment. "You probably _could_ destroy me if you tried hard enough..." The last part was said tauntingly, as if he was challenging her to destroy him.

"Just what is that guy up to?" Zelgadis questioned.

Lorelei shot a few more attacks at Xellos, two of which hit their mark. Lorelei had managed to injure Xellos' physical form, and he shrank back a bit. Lorelei approached him, her staff poised, ready to strike a finishing blow.

"So... you're really going to destroy me, eh Lorelei?" He asked.

"What the heck is Xellos doing?" Lina asked.

"Mister Xellos wouldn't give up so easily, would he?" Amelia wondered anxiously.

Lorelei pulled her staff back a bit further. "This is your last chance. Stop defending Lina Inverse."

"Oh, I can't do that, my dear."

"Why not?"

"Because... that. Is. A. Secret." He winked. "So are you going to destroy me already? Better hurry up. I might escape."

_What has Xellos got up his sleeve this time? _Lina wondered. _Surely he wouldn't let Lorelei get so close to defeating him unless..._

"So be it. You sought your own doom." Spreading her wings threateningly, Lorelei raised her staff. With one fluid motion, she brought the spear point down towards Xellos and...

_CRACK!_

Faster than Lorelei could react, the staff in her hand was snapped in two by a series of dark conical attacks, operated, of course, by Xellos.

The end of the broken staff fell to the ground, seething with a mix of dark energy and glowing red energy. Lorelei's red eyes changed back into their normal deep pink colour, and she fell unconsciously into Xellos' outstretched arms.

"Lorelei!" Zara yelled, rushing up to his best friend.

"What in the world just happened?" Gourry asked.

Xellos turned his attention from the small monster in his arms, back to the group of people that were surrounding him. "That's simple. When Zaragio put the curse on Lorelei, he had to target the centre of her magical ability, which happened to be contained in that staff. If she was to let go of the staff, or it got broken, then the spell would not apply to her anymore. But this staff is special- her most prized possession- and something she would never separate herself from."

"And... you broke this special staff. She's going to_ love_ you when she wakes up, then." Lina scoffed, with a twinge of sarcasm in her voice.

"Ah, but I had to do it for Lorelei's overall good, Miss Lina." He explained sheepishly.

"Mister Xellos is right. Sometimes people must do bad things in order for Justice to prevail in the end!" Amelia agreed.

Xellos laughed uncomfortably. "Justice, huh? I certainly wouldn't go _that_ far..."

"But how are you connected with Lorelei in the first place? You obviously knew her before..." Zelgadis asked.

"That is a very long story, my friend." Xellos grinned.

"Don't you dare call me your friend." Zelgadis threatened. "Now how long is this story anyway...?"

Lorelei was beginning to wake up, and Zara was standing over her protectively. Her eyes opened and looked up at the three-year-old first. "...Zara...?" She asked. Then her attention turned to the broken end of the staff clutched in her hand. "M-my...my staff... it's... it's..." She sobbed, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"Hey now, don't cry." Xellos reassured her. "I can always make you a new one."

Lorelei blinked her eyes a few time, trying to make sure what she was seeing was real. "You... you..." She began, and the threw her arms around him still crying. "I found you!" Lorelei sobbed. "I finally found you!"

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to stop crying? Honestly, I can see why Lord Beastmaster thinks you need more discipline." Xellos laughed, ruffling Lorelei's hair playfully.

Lina and her friends stared in incredulity. Xellos... and Lorelei...?

"Mister Xellos... so you are the father that Miss Lorelei has been searching for this whole time?" Amelia asked.

"Well, I suppose... have you really been searching for me?" He replied, asking Lorelei.

"Of course! I was so afraid that I'd never find you- I was searching for so long!" She hugged Xellos tighter.

"You found him! I knew you would!" Zara exclaimed.

"Wait... so Lorelei tried to kill me all because she was looking for _you_!" Lina's eye twitched. "Are you serious?" She looked as if she were about to punch Xellos, but Gourry and Amelia held her back.

"What's the story behind you and Lorelei anyway?" Zelgadis asked.

"Ah, that." Xellos began. "Well, it was quite some time ago... almost three-hundred years at least..."

* * *

"_Hmph. Those monsters were so touchy. I didn't mean to set them off like that. Honestly, they didn't have to attack me so fiercely." Xellos thought unhappily, clutching his torn up arm. "I'm sure to get a good scolding from Lord Beastmaster for getting into such a petty squabble. Ah, poor me..." He sighed in self-pity. _

_He suddenly became aware of a strong negative aura somewhere nearby. The sudden boost of energy helped him to heal his physical form. Out of curiosity, he located the source of the negativity. It was a small bird- a sparrow- who had fallen from its nest before it had learned to fly. It still didn't have all of the plumage that were required for flight, and its audacity in trying to fly before it was ready had caused the bird to fall to the ground. Xellos found the source of the bird's pain- the sparrow's wing was twisted at an awkward angle._

"_Poor thing. You were in the same situation that I was, huh? But your pain did help heal me. Perhaps I should express my gratitude somehow..."_

_Xellos bent down and picked up the sparrow, a jolt of fear spreading through the small bird. "Now, now, I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured, but the bird did not understand him. Placing it back on the ground he considered it for a moment. It would certainly be good for him to have backup if he were to end up in another conflict like he had earlier. Another mazoku would be helpful to have around. Perhaps this bird could be even more useful to him..._

_Xellos channelled a blast of strong magic into the bird, transforming it from an ordinary creature into a monster. The formerly tiny bird began to take a different shape. It changed from an animal into the form of a small humanoid girl with large, grotesque wings that would be perfect for a monster... if they had not been bright pink and yellow. Xellos stared in dismay. He had been aiming to accent the dark crimson and pale tan of the bird's original colours, but they had gotten a bit... eh... distorted. He sighed. Perhaps it was for the best. With that look, she could easily feign innocence and cause her opponents to let their guard down, making her all the more dangerous. He reached out to touch the wing that was broken._

"_Ow... ow..." She groaned._

"_Here, don't worry. It will heal easily if you channel your energy into it. Try it." Xellos instructed. The small monster did as she was told. The wing slowly regained its proper shape._

"_It... doesn't hurt as much..." She said._

"_Of course." Xellos said. "I told you it would work. Tell me, do you have a name?"_

_She looked up at him curiously. "...no, I don't think so."_

"_Oh, that's a shame. Everyone needs something to be called by, don't you think?"_

"_I suppose so... what is your name?"_

"_My name is Xellos." He replied. "And yours can be..." he thought for a moment, trying to think of a name that sounded somewhat innocent, yet still held enough eminence to strike fear into those that she had defeated. "... how about Lorelei?" He asked. _

"_Lorelei..." She tried out her new name. "... I like it."_

"_You do? Well that's good!" Xellos grinned playfully. "Why don't you follow me? I can introduce you to my master. You have the potential to become quite a strong ally."_

"_Alright. But... I have a question." Lorelei hesitated._

"_Yes, what is it?"_

"_Who... who are you anyway? Are you my father?"_

_Xellos had not expected this question. He thought it over for a second. "Well... judging by the situation... and since you don't seem to have anyone else to fit that position... I suppose that I am. Yes."_

_Lorelei smiled. "Oh! Thank you for helping me out, father!" She hugged Xellos. He blushed slightly._

What in the world have I done? _He wondered..._

* * *

"And... that's what happened." Xellos explained. He blushed a bit. "It's quite un-monsterish of me, but I seem to have a bit of a weakness for cute things." Looking at Lina, he continued. "That's the reason that I got so angry at you when you asked me to help you. Since I thought Lorelei was dead, I thought you were bringing her up in an attempt to exploit my weakness. I suppose I owe you an apology for that little outburst... but I think since I saved your life back there, that would be sufficient. I _do not_ like apologising to people."

"Hmph." Lina just stared angrily at the monster.

"Y-you thought I was dead?" Lorelei asked.

"Well, that was what I was told... I didn't want to believe it..." He mumbled. "I suppose that I should have had more faith in your abilities, Lorelei. I underestimated you, and I'm sorry for that."

"What happened to not liking to apologise?" Lina yelled.

"Oh, let me rephrase that. I don't like apologising to _you_, Miss Lina." Xellos teased.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Lina attempted to strike at Xellos, but he was too fast and got out of her way, laughing.

"So, Mister Xellos, you have a weakness for cute things, huh?" Amelia questioned.

Xellos smiled. "Yes, I do. Cute things, most definitely. Lorelei is cute. Filia is cute too."

"Filia? Who is Filia?" Lorelei asked nervously.

"Filia? Oh, that's right. You haven't met her." Xellos replied. "She is a golden dragon with quite a fiery temper. She's so very much fun to play with! I know! I need to take you to meet her! She'll probably hate you just as much as she hates me- and then it will be doubly fun!"

"Sucks to be Filia right now, doesn't it?" Zelgadis whispered to Amelia.

"You've got that right." She whispered back.

"Hey! What about me? I'm cute, right?" Lina asked.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lina, but you are most definitely _not_ cute." Xellos replied.

"I AM CUTE! I'M TOTALLY CUTE!" Lina fumed, attacking Xellos. Her friends watched the fight knowingly. Xellos had started it, after all. You _never_ insult Lina Inverse.

"Xellos brought this on himself." Zelgadis observed.

"Yeah. Lina Inverse doesn't seem to take insults very well." Lorelei observed.

"What else is new?" Amelia asked.

"I think she's cute. But she never listens to me..." Gourry mumbled.

"Well, I believe we've overstayed out welcome with these humans, my dear Lorelei. What say we give a certain dragon a visit now?" Xellos said, teleporting beside his small companion.

"Alright! That sounds like fun!" Lorelei enthused. She turned to Zara. "Uh, thanks a lot, Zara. For everything."

"You're welcome! Thank you Lorelei!" He said, giving her a big hug. She blushed extensively, and Xellos noticed.

"Well, we're off. Goodbye, Miss Lina." Xellos said, beginning to teleport away.

"Hey! Wait! I wasn't done with you-" Lina called, but she was too late. The two monsters had already disappeared, off to ruin poor Filia's day.

"Now we know where Lorelei got all her mannerisms from." Amelia observed.

"Yeah. She sure acts a lot like Xellos." Gourry agreed.

"THOSE STUPID MONSTERS! IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT THAT ALL THIS BAD STUFF ALWAYS HAPPENS TO US! THE NEXT TIME I SEE THOSE TWO, I'M GOING TO..." Lina began to rant uncontrollably, throwing fireballs in random directions.

"Lina's gone berserk!" Zara yelled.

"Miss Lina! Please stop! You're going to set the whole forest on fire if you're not careful!" Amelia warned, but Lina wasn't listening.

* * *

"Wow, so she carries a mace around with her? What a weird dragon." Lorelei said, laughing. "But, then again, what dragon was ever normal?"

"And what's so bad about not being normal? You and I are very far from normal." Xellos reminded her.

"That is so true, father... so true." Lorelei replied. She turned to Xellos. "You seem to like this Filia a lot, don't you?"

"And... what is wrong with that?" Xellos asked, waving his finger teasingly. "You seem to like that Zara child quite a bit as well. What is your relationship with him anyway?"

Lorelei blushed again. "Th-that..." She suddenly smiled again. "...that is a secret."

Xellos grinned happily. "It's so good to have you back, my dear!" He enthused.

* * *

"At this rate, the whole forest will be destroyed by tomorrow morning." Zelgadis said, watching Lina and her violent rant. Amelia was ducking out of the way of Fireballs, running back to her friends.

"I can't snap her out of it! Miss Lina just won't listen to reason!" Amelia cried.

"Did you try telling her about Love and Justice?" Zara asked.

"I did, but it didn't seem to affect her at all!" Amelia sighed. "What are we going to do? We can't leave Miss Lina in this irritated state! She could really hurt someone!"

Zelgadis nodded. "But how are we going to snap her out of it. You've tried every tactic that we could think of..."

The group watched Lina blow up a few more trees before Gourry finally spoke up.

"I've got it!" He said.

"Got what?" Zara asked.

"Lina is really angry!"

The rest of the group fell dramatically, anime-style. Zelgadis was the first to get up. "I thought that was EVIDENT!" he exclaimed.

"Well, yeah. But I've finally figured out how to snap her out of it." Gourry replied.

"If you've thought of something we haven't, then by all means try it, Mister Gourry." Amelia said. "The worst thing it could do is make her even more angry."

She didn't catch Gourry's "Not necessarily..." as he approached Lina. He put his hand on her shoulder to catch her attention. "Lina?" He said.

"What is that idiot doing?" Zelgadis asked.

"He could be trying to talk her out of it..." Amelia responded.

Lina turned to the swordsman, the anger still apparent in her eyes. "What do you wan-" But she was unable to finish the sentence. It's kind of hard to talk and get kissed at the same time.

Amelia, Zelgadis, and Zara stared in disbelief. "...or he could do_ that_." Amelia corrected.

Gourry pulled his face away from Lina's and observed her shocked expression. She didn't say anything for a moment, and he filled the silence. "You know, you're actually really cute when you're angry."

...

"YOU IDIOT!"

_WHACK!_

Lina was yelling and hitting Gourry at the same time, with the same anger she had been directing at the forest a few moments ago.

"That was _WHACK!_ completely random _WHACK!_ and totally uncalled for _WHACK!_ And don't think that _WHACK!_ you can win me over with _WHACK!_ stupid compliments _WHACK!_"

"Poor Mister Gourry. It looks like his plan backfired." Amelia commented sadly.

"No, I think that he meant for this to happen." Zelgadis replied.

"Huh? You mean he actually _wanted_ Miss Lina to react this way?"

"Well, Gourry may not be the sharpest person in the world, but he knows Lina inside and out. He would have known that this is how she would react." Zel pointed out.

Lina had finally finished hitting Gourry as much as she thought was needed. He looked up at her innocently. "Why are you so angry, Lina?" He asked.

"Why? Why? _Because_, jellyfish-brain! You just came out of nowhere and _kissed me_! That's why I'm angry!" Lina gave him another few whacks on the head.

"No, I meant before that. Why were you angry before?" Gourry corrected.

"Why was I..." Lina began, and had to stop and think. "...come to think of it, why the heck was I angry before? I think it might have had something to do with those monsters, but..."

Gourry gave Lina a satisfied smile. "See? You're not mad at them anymore! So that means I managed to calm you down! I knew that if I did something that would make you even more upset than before, then you'd forget all about why you were mad in the first place!"

Lina and Amelia looked at Gourry, shocked. Zelgadis and Zara just nodded. They had never doubted Gourry's intellect. Lina raised her hand as if she was going to hit him again. Gourry flinched, but Lina just put her hand down.

"You know... for a jellyfish-brained idiot, you can actually be kind of smart sometimes." She sighed.

Gourry smiled. Compliments from Lina were few and far between.

"Yeah, and for a violent sorceress, you can actually be kind of nice sometimes." He agreed. "But, isn't that what I love about you?"

Lina was about to reprimand him for calling her violent, but she stopped. Had he just said '_love_'?

"Th-that you..." Her voice trailed off as she looked in his eyes again. Dang! Why did she always forget what she was going to say? At this rate, she'd become worse than Gourry! "I... um..." She began again, but was cut off.

"Lina! You're back to normal! You were scary there for a minute!" Zara yelled, hugging Lina. He was relieved to see her calmed down after the display of aggression she had just shown.

"Zara-chan!" Amelia hissed. She grabbed the boy and pulled him away from Lina by the back of his shirt. Whispering harshly, she scolded him. "Zara-chan, you can't just rush into a beautiful moment like this! Couldn't you see that they were about to be honest about their emotions? Doing things like this interferes with the Justice of True Love! And if you interfere with that, then the Hammer of Justice will bring painful retribution down upon you! Got it?" Zara looked wide-eyed at the princess. Lina and Gourry were also staring with strange expressions. "Oh, please don't mind us. Continue with your conversation." Amelia said happily.

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "There's no way they're going to continue it _now_..." He mumbled.

"Continue? Continue what?" Lina stammered, blushing. "That was the end of the conversation! Done! Finished!" She bent down and grabbed the three-year-old's hand. "Come on, Zara, let's get going. We're less than two days away from Mahoutskai, and after what happened today, I think that everyone wants you home as soon as possible!" The two began walking, and their three friends followed slowly.

"How sad. Miss Lina never finished what she was going to say." Amelia commented, disappointed in the way the events had turned out.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Gourry replied. "I _kissed_ her, and she didn't even Fireball me! I think that means she likes me!"

"You just keep telling yourself that..." Zelgadis murmured as they walked farther into the darkening forest, wondering what kind of painful retribution he might receive from Amelia if he attempted to kiss her.

Unfortunately, he didn't really want to find out.

* * *

-Wow, for once, Gourry was actually smart. It's the apocalypse! Haha, no, sorry. I've always liked the idea of Gourry as some sort of misunderstood genius. And of course, now we know where Lorelei got all her crazy mannerisms from. Oh poor Filia... Hey! Next time they're going to finally get to Mahoutskai, and that means that they get to meet Zara's family, not to mention learning a bit more about him... this should be interesting... R&R! :3-

* * *

I got a lot of good reviews on my random drabble last time, and since I was thinking about doing a continuation, here it is. Drabble part 2:

Zara: Hey, Amelia? Zelgadis?

Amelia: What's up, Zara-chan?

Zara: I was wondering the meaning of a word. Lorelei wouldn't tell me what it was, and when I asked Lina and Gourry, they suddenly disappeared. Do you think you could tell me?

*Zelgadis and Amelia exchange a glance*

Zel: *sweatdrop* I suppose so. It would definitely depend on the word, though...

Amelia: Um, what is this word?

Zara: Biological.

Zel: That's it? Biological?

Zara: Yeah, why?

Zel: Um, no reason... I was just expecting... never mind... let me look it up in my dictionary.

Amelia: That's a very odd word.

Zel: Here, it says that the definition is 'of, relating to, caused by, or affecting life or living organisms.'

Zara: Hmm... I'm not sure... is there another definition in there? That one doesn't really make sense.

Zel: Well, the second definition is 'having to do with biology.'

Zara: What's biology?

Amelia: It's the study of life, and of living creatures.

Zara: Oh. That's not it either. Is there another definition?

Zel: *sigh* Uh, the next one is 'related by blood, as in a child's biological parents.'

Zara: That's the one! I don't understand it, could you explain it to me? Please?

Amelia: Explain what?

Zara: The part about biological parents. I'm not really sure that I understand it.

*Amelia and Zelgadis sweatdrop*

Amelia: *whispering to Zel* Mister Zelgadis, what do we do?

Zel: Well, we've got to say something to him.

Amelia: Like what?

Zel: I suppose we should try to explain it in terms that he can understand without destroying his... innocence...

Amelia: Okay! I've got it.

Zara: What are you guys talking about?

Amelia: Oh, nothing! Here, I'll explain this to you, Zara.

Zara: Really? Thanks so much!

Amelia: So... um, biological parent are the parents that are actually related to you.

Zara: What makes them related?

Amelia: Oh, uh... *sweatdrop* Well... um... let's see... uh, why don't I give you an example?

Zara: An example? Like what?

Amelia: Well... say, for instance, that Mister Zelgadis and I had a child...

Zel: WHAT? *falls over*

Amelia: Don't worry! It's just an example!

Zara: And...?

Amelia: Oh, well, the child would be part chimera, right? Because it's related to Mister Zelgadis. Do you understand?

Zara: Yeah. *nods*

Amelia: And if we were to adopt a child instead, it wouldn't be part chimera, because it wasn't related to us. Get it?

Zara: Oh! I get it now!

Zel: You do?

Zara: Yeah! Biological has something to do with being a chimera, right?

*Amelia and Zelgadis fall over*

Amelia: No! That was just an example!

Zara: Huh? An example? Of what?

Amelia: Um, of heredity I guess.

Zara: Heredity? What's that? Is it like biological? Does it have something to do with chimeras?

Zel: Yes.

Amelia: Huh?

Zel: Yes, heredity and biological are both about chimeras. Are you satisfied now?

Zara: Yeah! Thanks so much!

Zel: You're welcome.

*Zara walks away*

Amelia: Mister Zelgadis, that was very unjust of you to lie like that.

Zel: Well, do _you_ want to explain heredity to a three-year-old?

Amelia: I suppose if you put it that way...

Zel: Without the use of crazy examples.

Amelia: Don't worry about that! I told you it was just an example, didn't I?

Zel: It had better be... for now anyway...

Amelia: What was that?

Zel: Nothing...


	14. 14: Zara's family! And the whole story?

-Alright! The chapter I've been waiting for! This is what the main story has been building to this whole time... although the story is still far from over. Let's see how Lina and friends react to what they learn when they finally get Zara home...-

* * *

**14- Zara's family! And the whole story?**

Lina and friends strolled though the lively village, seeing many people coming and going.

"So this is where Zara-chan comes from? It's so lovely. What a nice, quaint village." Amelia commented.

"Yeah." Zelgadis agreed. "But where exactly does Zara live anyway? Do we have directions or something?"

"I suppose we could ask someone." Gourry said, walking off.

"That's a great idea, Mister Gourry! Someone around here must know Zara-chan!" Amelia agreed and followed him.

Lina stayed where she was, holding the three-year-old's hand. "Lina? Are you okay?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." She answered quickly. But she wasn't. She had a strange feeling, and was trying to identify it. Could it be that she was dreading having to part with the little boy after all this time? Of course not! Ridiculous! It couldn't be! Right? The more she thought about it, the harder she clutched the boy's hand. Fortunately, Zara didn't seem to notice.

"Miss Lina! Zara-chan! This way!" Amelia called. "Zara-chan's house is just up this street!"

Lina gulped, and followed her friends, with her hand still firmly clasped around Zara's. "You're almost home." She whispered to him, wondering how he would respond to it.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" He replied with a big smile. Lina smiled back, but something about his answer dissatisfied her, which only made her more uncomfortable.

The house was a nice-looking one, one that Lina would have liked to live in if she hadn't been travelling. Amelia knocked on the door, and a young woman opened it. She seemed slightly surprised to see the large group of people outside her house. "Um, is there something I can do for you all?" She asked politely.

"Ah, we were wondering..." Amelia began, and she turned to glance at Zara. He was staring at the young woman with large, recognising eyes.

"M-mama?" He stammered, somewhat questioning.

The young woman's eyes fell on the little boy and she gasped. "Zara!" She exclaimed. "Oh Zara!"

"Mama! Mama!" Zara let go of Lina's hand and ran to the young woman's outstretched arms.

Lina bit her lip as she watched the reunion. She should be happy. They had finally found Zara's home. That was what they'd been travelling all this way to do. But why was she upset? She felt strange as she watched Zara and the young woman hugging, something almost akin to jealousy. Jealousy? But what was she jealous of?

The young woman placed Zara back down, still holding his hand. "Thank you so much for bringing Zara home." She said, gratitude flashing in her eyes.

"Hey, it was no problem! It's our job as defenders of Justice!" Amelia enthused. She turned around. "Right, Miss Lina?"

"U-uh, yeah. Sure." Lina stammered, unsure of what to say. She just stood there awkwardly for a moment.

Gourry nudged her. "Lina, you should probably say goodbye or something."

"Er, right. Of course." Lina turned to the little boy sitting down to get to his eye level. "Hey, Zara?" She asked.

Zara looked back, and when he saw her, his green eyes took on a cloudy expression.

"Who are _you_?" He asked bluntly.

Lina was taken aback. She couldn't believe it. "Z-Zara..." She stammered, wondering why it hurt so much to say it. "It's me. Lina. Don't you remember...?"

"Who is that?" He replied, his expression still cloudy and emotionless.

"Zara... no... it's me. Lina Inverse. Lina?" She felt herself panicking as the boy's expression didn't change. "Come on? Lina? Ringing any bells here? Lina?"

"Lina? Lina? Lina please wake up! Wake up, Lina!"

The sorceress sat bolt upright, her eyes suddenly open, studying her surroundings. It was dark. She was in a sleeping bag. It had been a dream. Just a stupid dream.

"Lina?" The voice that had woken her up called again. She turned to see a frightened looking three-year-old standing next to her.

"Z-Zara..." She stammered, somewhat relieved that he remembered her name. "What's wrong?"

"I had another bad dream..." He said sadly.

_You and me both, kid. _Was the thought that went through her mind. She shook her head to get rid of it. "Well, why'd you wake _me_ up? You know that every time you come to me, I just tell you to get over it and go back to sleep. Why didn't you wake up Gourry or Amelia?"

Zara stared sheepishly at Lina. "Because you're the best at scaring away monsters." He replied.

Lina sighed. It was as good an answer as any. Zara saw the frustrated look on the sorceress' face, and he backed away slightly. "I'll just go back to bed now if you want..." He said dejectedly.

Lina looked back up at the retreating child, remembering her dream. "Erm, well, you can come stay over here with me if you really want to..." She said, opening her arms invitingly. Zara was quick to jump on her offer, literally. He hugged her tightly, making himself comfortable in her lap. It was the same way he had greeted the young woman in her dream, Lina remembered, and she felt a sudden rush of warmth. She didn't need to be jealous anymore.

Of course, that was assuming that she had been jealous in the first place. Which she assured herself that she hadn't.

"Was it... the same one you had before? The one with me in it?" She asked.

"Yeah." Zara responded weakly. He was tired, and felt so safe and happy in Lina's arms.

Lina watched the boy as he began to fall asleep. She noticed that his hair was messed up- probably from thrashing around in bed due to his nightmares. His hair was long- not long like Gourry's- but it went almost to the boy's shoulders and could get really messed up if he slept on it the wrong way. Lina began to run her fingers through his light-brown hair in an attempt to straighten it out. It was calming and she sat, stroking the child's hair for a long while. For some reason, it reminded her of a time when she was very young, and of a song that her mother used to sing to her. Quietly, more to herself than to Zara, she began to hum. Zara was asleep by this point, but Lina's song seemed to percolate into his subconscious mind, and he smiled. It was impossible for Lina to keep from smiling back.

The craziness of her dream forgotten, and with the company of the little boy cheering her up, Lina felt so much better. But the song she was humming didn't last forever, and as she finished, her reverie was interrupted by the sound of someone clapping. She jerked her head up suddenly, staring at the person she hadn't realised was listening.

"Wow Lina, I never knew you had such a pretty voice. You could give Lorelei a run for her money, you know that?"

Lina's face burned scarlet, both from the comments and the fact that she had been caught actually being nice to Zara. She pressed her finger to her lips and hissed back, "Shut up, jellyfish-brain! You'll wake him up!"

"Sorry!" Gourry whispered back, and went to sit down closely beside Lina and Zara. A little _too_ close if you asked Lina, but his attention was focused on the little boy, so she couldn't complain. "I woke up and thought I heard singing, so I had to find out where it was coming from." He explained. "How come you've never sung like that before?"

"I've just... just never needed to..." Lina stammered. She had often been told by her sister when they were young that she had a terrible voice. Had her sister lied just because she didn't like Lina, or was it Gourry who was lying because he actually _did_ like her? Lina went with the first- it was easier for her to accept at the moment, and it made her seem more talented anyway.

Gourry nodded, watching Lina and Zara for a moment. "So you really _do_ like him, huh?" He observed.

"Wh-what? No! Of course not! I'm just... humouring him! After all, it is his last night with us." Lina defended, the uncomfortable feelings from her dream resurfacing.

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten that we're going to get to Mahoutskai tomorrow." Gourry said. "That's good for Zara, but I'm really going to miss him. Won't you, Lina?"

Lina turned away. "Miss him? No way! Of course not! Never! I've been wanting to get rid of him since we first met him! I'll be glad to see him get back home!"

Gourry nodded again. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He reached out absentmindedly and began stroking Zara's hair along with Lina. Lina didn't say anything, and the two of them sat together for a moment in silence. Gourry's hand fell over top of Lina's and their eyes met. Lina couldn't help remembering the way Gourry had chosen to snap her out of her angry rant at Xellos and Lorelei. Suddenly self-conscious, Lina snatched her hand back.

"Are you sure you really don't like him? You seem to." Gourry asked again.

"I already told you-!" Lina began to yell, but stopped, remembering that Zara was still asleep. She lowered her voice again. "I already told you once before- I am not, have never been, or will never be this kid's mother! Got it?"

Gourry nodded, staring off into the distance. "Yeah," He murmured, still not looking at Lina. "but I almost think that somewhere, deep down, you actually want to."

He turned back to Lina expecting to see some expression of rage or fury directed at him, but instead her expression was stunned. She looked as if he'd just told her that he'd won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Which definitely would be shocking, since Gourry didn't exactly know what chemistry was.

Instead of attacking him like he was sure she would, she just turned her gaze back to Zara and muttered a quick "shut up, jellyfish. Go back to bed."

"Alright, I guess I will. Good night, Lina." He replied, getting up.

"Good night, idiot." She replied, watching him go.

So much for getting any more sleep that night.

* * *

The town looked much different than Lina had pictured it in her dream. It was not as nice, or as quaint. According to the townspeople, almost the entire town had been destroyed about a year and a half ago, and they were still in the process of rebuilding. They also took the chance to ask around to see if anyone knew who Zara was, or where he lived. The responses were all incredibly similar.

"Zara? That's an odd name. Never heard it before." "That kid? No, I don't know who he is. Never seen him before in my life." "Sorry, but I don't know of anyone by that name or description, I'm afraid."

Lina was getting frustrated. "Why doesn't anybody know him?" She ranted. "It makes no sense! This is supposed to be his hometown! I'm starting to wonder whether that lake dragon thing was telling the truth!"

"But Lina, she had no reason to lie to us." Gourry pointed out.

"Yeah, Miss Lina. Aren't dragons always truthful?" Amelia agreed.

"I suppose..." Lina mumbled.

Zelgadis, who had been going around talking to people, rejoined the group. "No one knows him, although I found out from someone that there is a wise old lady who lives just outside the village who has lived here all her life and is very familiar with the town's history. Perhaps she'd be able to give us some insight as to where Zara comes from."

"Great work, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia enthused.

"So, we're going to go after this lady?" Gourry asked.

"Sounds like it. Come on, kid." Lina said, pulling Zara with her. She hadn't let go of his hand all morning.

* * *

"There are two paths. Which one do we take?" Lina asked. The group was just outside the town, and were following the path that was supposed to lead to the old woman's house. Unfortunately, no one had told the travellers that the trail branched off.

"I don't know. They never gave me that information. I suppose..." Zelgadis began, but he turned his attention to one of the apple trees surrounding the path. Lina, Amelia, Gourry, and Zara had already turned to look. There was a boy sitting in the branches of the tree. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with wild brown hair, and had a large basket that he was filling with ripe apples.

"Maybe we can ask him for help." Amelia suggested.

"Hey! Kid!" Lina yelled. The boy didn't even glance down.

"What do you want?" He asked rudely.

"Hey, now! Don't 'what do you want' me! We need your help!" Lina yelled. She didn't like this guy already.

"Can't you see I'm a bit busy? Honestly, you travellers are always so rude."

"Rude? Oh so now we're the rude ones? Looks who's talking? I ought to..." Lina yelled.

"Miss Lina, please calm down!" Amelia said. "I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but we're looking for the family of a child named Zara, and we were wondering if you could help us a bit."

The boy suddenly turned his attention to the travellers. "Did you say Zara-" Suddenly he lost his balance on the branch and fell to the ground with a crash. His eyes swirled. "Oww..." he mumbled, rubbing his head. The basket of apples, with no one to stabilise it, fell over, dropping each of the apples onto the boy's head one by one, followed by the bucket itself. It fell onto the boy's head with a crash. "Oww..." came the muffled groan from inside the bucket.

Lina and her friends stared incredulously. Karma certainly had a strange way of working.

Zara walked up to the boy to see if he was alright. The three-year-old helped the boy pull the bucket off his head. "Are you okay?" He asked.

The boy stared at him for a second, with an unbelieving expression. Suddenly, he threw his hands around the three-year-old with a yell. "Zara! Oh my gosh, Zara! It's really you! I can't believe it! You're okay! I've been searching all over for you!"

Lina and her friends continued staring at the scene, surprised. Apparently the boy _did_ know Zara. But the opposite was not true. Zara looked up at Lina with a shocked expression. "Lina, who is this guy?"

The boy gasped, dropping Zara. "What? Who am I? Are you saying that you don't even remember Zander, your greatest big brother in the whole entire world? Say it isn't so! No!" Zander exclaimed dramatically.

"That guy is worse than Amelia." Lina mumbled, feeling an odd pang of sympathy for the boy that Zara had forgotten.

Zander continued. "Oh, it must been those thieves! They must have erased your memory! How terrible! How awful! Grandma Wren will not be pleased at all!" He turned his attention back to Lina and her friends. "Oh, you must be the people who rescued Zara from those evil thieves! Oh, thank you so very much! I apologise for my rudeness before- I'm in your debt!"

Lina walked up to Zander. "So, if you're in our debt, could you at least tell us a little bit about Zara? His memory got erased, so we don't know anything about him."

Zander nodded. "Of course! Here, you can come with me to Grandma Wren's house. She'll be happy to see Zara. We can talk this over at her house."

"Grandma Wren?" Amelia asked. "Do you mean the wise old lady who lives out here?"

Zander nodded. "I'll explain some along the way if you want.

* * *

"So, Mister Zander, did you say that you are Zara-chan's older brother?" Amelia asked.

"Well, sort of. Not really." Zander answered. "I've just always sort of taken care of him like a little brother. You see, we're both just alike..." He paused thoughtfully for a moment before finishing. "...we're both orphans."

It took a moment for his statement to sink in. "Y-you mean that... Zara-chan is an orphan? He doesn't have any parents?" Amelia asked sadly.

"That's right." Zander nodded gravely. "We live with Grandma Wren. She's the one who takes care of us. She's actually my great-grandmother and only living family member. That's why I live with her. And she took Zara in about a year and a half ago, when he had nowhere to go."

Lina nodded, not sure what to do. It was sad, but why did she have a strange feeling of relief as well?

"A year and a half ago? Wasn't that when the town was destroyed? Is that the reason that he doesn't have parents?" Amelia asked.

Zander shook his head. "No, actually it wasn't. It was the strangest thing; Zara came to live with us about a week or two before that big disaster happened. It was kind of scary. That's the worst way to welcome a two-year-old into his new home. Of course, we live pretty far out, so it didn't really affect us. We're not really affiliated with the village. We just happen to live nearby. Grandma Wren sends me into town for groceries on occasion, but other than that, we try to stay away from it."

"So it's just you, your great-grandmother, and Zara-chan?" Amelia asked.

"Yep, sure is. I've lived with Grandma Wren for as long as I can remember. Not only is she very wise, she's also a sorceress and she's been teaching me a little magic... not that I'm very good at it. But I try to help her out as much as I can. She's like my hero. I want to be like her when I get older, and that's why I'm training hard." He replied.

"You story sounds oddly familiar." Zelgadis remarked coldly.

"What? Really?" Zander asked the strange man.

"Oh yeah! That's right! Zel used to live with his great-grandfather and help him out the same way! That is.. until he..." Lina's voice trailed off.

Zelgadis shot Lina a venomous look. "Until he _what_?" The chimera demanded.

"Uh, I was going to say until he became possessed by Shabranigdo, and..." Lina stammered.

"And _what_? Turned me into a _monster_? You can say it Lina!" Zel snapped.

Zander watched in disbelief as Lina became angry and Amelia frantically insisted that Zelgadis was not a monster. He realised that these people must have a lot of their own problems.

"Uh, Grandma Wren's house is right up here." Zander said, pointing to a small log cabin that had come into view. Lina and her friends looked up from their little dispute. So _this_ was where Zara was from.

"I guess we finally made it." Lina breathed.

* * *

Zander knocked on the door, not wanting to barge into the house with a large group of people. The door was answered by a woman with long blonde hair. At first, Lina and her friends wondered who the lady was. She didn't appear to be older than her mid-twenties. But when she spoke, her voice seemed to betray her true age.

"Ah, Zander. You have brought visitors, I see." She commented.

"Yeah, Grandma Wren! And look, they brought Zara back home!" Zander pulled the little boy forward so that the woman could see him. She bent down to eye level with Zara.

"Zara. You have returned unharmed. This is a relief." She said, her eyes sparkling with wisdom. She did not put on such a display of affection as Zander had- in fact she didn't even show any affection at all. She turned her attention to the group of travellers accompanying the little boy. "Please, come inside." Wren beckoned. "It is cold out, and I can sense that you have questions that you would like answered."

The group exchanged a glance and followed the woman into the house.

Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis gathered in the main room. Wren prepared some tea and sat down with them. Zander was playing with Zara in one of the adjacent bedrooms. Even though Zara had forgotten who he was, that didn't stop Zander from having fun with the little boy. Zara was playing and laughing with his old friend as if nothing had changed.

"So, what is it that you would like to know about?" Wren asked the travellers, sipping a cup of tea.

"Well, I think our first question would be about you." Lina said. "How old are you anyway?"

Wren smiled. "Older than I appear. Magic has helped keep my appearance youthful, though it cannot slow down the aging process, I'm afraid."

"I see." Lina nodded. "You're quite powerful, aren't you? I can sense it."

"You are very astute, Miss Inverse." Wren acknowledged. "But enough about me. You want information about other things, correct?"

"Yeah, actually..." Amelia began. "We've heard a story about a monster who fell in love with a girl from Mahoutskai. And we have also encountered a monster by the name of Zaragio, who apparently had some connection with a sorceress named Veridia. Is there any connection between those two?"

Wren nodded solemnly. "Yes. Zaragio and Veridia are the very same people from the story that you have described."

"Really? The same ones?" Gourry asked.

"Yes. I must ask, what version of this story did you hear?" The woman replied.

"Version? What do you mean?" Amelia asked.

"Well, you know how rumours are. They often get blown out of proportion, or get the facts twisted in some odd way that makes the story more interesting but less accurate. Tell me, what were the details of this story?"

Amelia thought for a moment. "Well, it went something along the lines of this- Veridia and Zaragio fell in love, and eventually had a child. But the people of the town were afraid of this child so they killed Veridia and the child. This made Zaragio very unhappy, and he destroyed the town in his rage, and now he is seeking revenge on the human race."

"I see. Then you heard the unaltered version. This is completely accurate as far as the townspeople of Mahoutskai know." Wren replied. "However, there are still a few inaccuracies."

"Inaccuracies?" Zelgadis asked. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you. You understand that it is very difficult to kill a monster. A human-monster hybrid would not be destroyed very easily. The people of Mahoutskai thought that they had killed the child, but they hadn't. He lived."

There was a collective gasp from the group of friends. "Really? He lived! Oh, that's wonderful!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Not necessarily." Wren replied, capturing the group's attention again. "Zaragio was enraged at the death of Veridia, and the disappearance of his son. He _is_ searching for revenge, but not by himself. He wants to unlock his son's powers and use them against humans. Evidently, this child is very powerful. Zaragio is searching for his son, and any information regarding his powers, such as old books. There are many books written on that subject in the old Mazoku language that is unreadable by humans."

Lina snapped her fingers. "Of course! That's the reason that Zaragio is chasing us! It's because of those books that we have! Now it makes sense!"

"Really? He'd go to all the trouble of killing you to get his hands on a few books?" Gourry asked. "That doesn't really make sense."

Lina gave Gourry a whack on the head. "Come on, idiot! From all that we've heard, I figure that Zaragio is willing to do whatever it takes to get the information that he wants. Plus he seems to be a bit... insane. Just a little."

Wren interrupted Lina. "No, Mister Gabriev is correct."

"What? Really? That's a first." Gourry remarked.

The woman continued. "Zaragio would not go to all that trouble of hunting you down like this only for a few books. Surely you must have realised that there is much more behind it. Not only do you have the books,"

She paused, drawing stares from the people around the room.

"but you have the _child_ as well."

* * *

(A/N:Dun dun dun... I suppose this already long enough to end the chapter here... but that would be quite unjust of me. Heheh~ If you figured out who Zara was before, give yourself a cookie! ^.^ If not, have a cookie anyway. But keep reading. It gets better.)

* * *

For a long moment, no one spoke. They stared in incredulity at the woman who had just given them a bit of information on which they had no suspicion. Amelia was the first to speak up.

"M-Ms. Wren... you can't possibly mean that Zara-chan is..."

"That is exactly what I mean. You mean to say that you haven't noticed?"

Lina looked around nervously. "Well... I mean, I knew that he had magical powers far beyond the capacity of normal humans, but I didn't think that it meant... I mean, I just didn't expect..."

"But Zara-chan is too nice to be a monster!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Of course. That's because he's not a full-blooded monster. Remember that Veridia was a human. The mix of human and monster blood gave him very... interesting characteristics." Wren replied, still calmly sipping tea.

"You mean like the ability to tolerate positive emotions?" Zelgadis asked.

"Not just tolerate them, Mister Greywords, but to actually feed off of them. Zara is the opposite of a normal monster. He gains energy from positive emotions, while negative emotions weaken him. You have probably noticed this before."

"Of course! That's why he was never hungry!" Gourry said. "And he never slept all that much, except for when everyone was upset about something. Like after the blizzard- I had to carry him back. But once everything settled down, he was fine."

"And when he got so hyper at that party." Zelgadis mentioned. "I guess it wasn't the cake after all."

Wren nodded. "Of course. I'm not exactly sure what the situations were, but those sound like good examples."

"And Zara-chan is very smart! Does that have anything to do with being half-monster?" Amelia asked.

Wren nodded again. "Yes, that does. You see, Zara does not age the way normal humans do. In actuality he is about three and a half years old, but he physically appears to be about three. In contrast, his mental state is far ahead of his physical state. Psychologically, he is about at the level of an ordinary ten-year-old."

"Dang." Lina breathed. "No wonder he could do math better than Gourry. I guess it's almost the same thing. Gourry is, what, twenty-something? But mentally, he's about... seven I guess."

"I'm older than _seven_!" Gourry defended.

"How old would you say you are, Mister Gourry?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe eight..." He responded. Lina punched him on the head.

"Shut up, idiot. There's still more things I want to discuss." Lina turned back to Wren. "So, how did you get involved with Zara anyway?"

"I was a personal friend and confidant of Veridia. I rescued her son when she was killed. I was planning on giving Zara back to Zaragio, but when Zaragio destroyed the town of Mahoutskai just over a week later, I knew that it was not safe to reveal myself to him yet. So I kept Zara with me, letting my great-grandson, Zander, help me take care of him." Wren replied.

"Does Mister Zander know about Zara-chan...?" Amelia asked hesitantly.

"No. Zander does not know. I almost told him the story when Zara was kidnapped by Zaragio's subordinates, but decided against it."

"So those bandits we fought were actually monsters working for Zaragio, huh? Interesting." Lina observed.

"But what did the townspeople do? How did Miss Veridia die?" Amelia asked.

Wren told the whole story. "Veridia and Zaragio were living in the ruins of an old abandoned castle nearby. Zaragio had been summoned by another monster and was absent at the time. The townspeople saw their chance, and went while Veridia and Zara were unprotected. They lit the place on fire, not knowing that it allowed Zaragio to observe all the events that were taking place from far away. Veridia, whose magic was quite powerful, stood up to defend her child. But she was horribly outnumbered, and though she was strong, it wasn't quite enough. They killed her in front of Zara. He was only two at the time, but smart enough to know what was going on. The poor boy was terrified, especially seeing his mother taken down so brutally by the angry townspeople. They used the remaining fire to detonate the ruins, thinking that Zara would be killed in the explosion. He was severely injured, but did not die. And, of course, Zaragio, who could only watch- unable to do anything- was enraged."

Lina stood up in shock. "Th-the dream!" She stammered. "That's the dream! That's what he was dreaming about!"

Wren looked up at the sorceress, a surprised look on her face. "You mean that Zara dreamed about these events?" She asked.

"Yeah! That's exactly the story that he told about his dream!" Lina exclaimed.

"But, wait. That doesn't make any sense. If it was a dream about Zara-chan's past, then why were Miss Lina and Mister Gourry in it?" Amelia asked.

Lina paused. "Oh yeah, that's right. It was me that he saw the townspeople fight... and poor Gourry who was watching, but couldn't do anything... That doesn't make any sense!"

"Actually, it makes perfect sense." Wren said. The group looked up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Zelgadis asked.

"Well, due to his erased memory, Zara doesn't recall the details of Veridia and Zaragio. He only remembers the relationships of the people _to_ him. Because of this, his subconscious mind fills in the blanks with the people who currently occupy that role in his life." She explained.

"Uh, in English please?" Gourry requested, confused.

"It means that, Zara saw you in his dream, because you are his parents now."

"We're WHAT?" Lina asked, slamming her fist onto the table, causing some of the tea to spill over.

"Zara thinks of the two of you as his parents." Wren said. "Does this bother you?"

"Bother me? That's exactly what I told that kid NOT to do!" Lina said angrily. "How do we fix that?"

"Young children's parental bonds are nearly impossible to change, Miss Inverse." The woman clarified. "Unless, of course, you erased his memory again."

"No!" The word came out of Lina's mouth before she even had time to think about it. It was the memory of her dream that night speaking for her, and for once, she agreed. "I... I never said that it _did_ bother me..." She stammered.

"Does this mean that Zara is going to stay with us now?" Gourry asked.

"A child this age needs to be around his parents. Not some old lady and a teenage boy." Wren said, almost laughing. Her expression became serious again. "You also would be able to protect him better than we could."

"Protect him? Oh, you mean from Zaragio?" Amelia asked.

"Yes. I fear that the tactic Zaragio wishes to use in order to reveal Zara's true power could do more harm than good to the boy. Zaragio has been driven insane by the events that occurred, and no longer cares how many people are harmed as long as he gets revenge. Even if it means sacrificing Zara..."

"You mean he'd sacrifice his own son to get revenge on the people who tried to kill his son? That makes absolutely no sense!" Amelia cried.

"It doesn't have to make sense for Zaragio. He cannot think clearly anymore. He is dangerous." Wren said, looking at Amelia. "And I do not consider Zara to be his son anymore. Veridia instructed me that if anything were ever to happen to her and Zaragio, then guardianship of the boy would fall to me. Now Veridia is dead, and Zaragio is no longer sane enough to care for the child. I have the right to look after him now... however..." The woman eyed Lina and Gourry. "I feel that, due to the circumstances, that should be passed on to the two of you."

Gourry glanced around nervously. "Lina? Are you sure about this?" He asked.

Lina looked at Wren with a serious expression. "I don't know anything about being a parent..." She began, "...but I do know that I am not going to let _anything_ happen to Zara. You can count on that."

* * *

Lina sat outside on the porch, observing the night sky, and pondering all the things that had happened that day. Wren had explained Zara's situation to a stunned Zander, and a much less surprised Zara. The three-year-old took the information much better than Lina had expected, especially the part about staying with her and Gourry. Lina didn't think she'd ever seen Zara smile so brightly.

Now the others were helping Wren cook dinner, which was good because Lina was pretty hungry.

"Hey, Lina? Are you out here?" A familiar voice broke her reverie.

"Yeah. What are you doing here? I thought you were in the kitchen helping out." She replied.

"Oh, well, they kind of chased me out. I'm not very good at cooking. I just mess everything up." Gourry replied awkwardly.

"Why does this not surprise me?" Lina laughed.

"But you're not very good at cooking either! Remember the squash biscuit?" Gourry reminded, teasingly.

"Oh, yeah. Well it was _your _idea to cut the thing with your sword! I still haven't washed some of those squash stains out of my clothes!" Lina replied.

"But you were the one who threw stuff into the pot without knowing what you were putting in!"

"Well it's that chef guy's fault for keeping all that useless stuff around! I mean, turmeric? Soapwort? Lemon Verbena? Who keeps that kind of stuff in their cabinets anyway?" Lina laughed again.

The pair laughed for a minute, their warm breath condensing into clouds of vapour in the frigid air. They had gotten so wrapped up in their little arguments and all the crazy things going on around them, that they had forgotten how much they enjoyed each other's company. They had so many fond memories- even if making the memories had not been very fun. They had so much that they could look back on and laugh.

"You know..." Gourry began, after their laughter had subsided.

"What is it?" Asked Lina.

"Well... I always imagined that we would get married and settle down before we became parents. You know?"

_WHACK!_

"Some thoughts are better left in your head, jellyfish-brain." Lina scolded. "And we're not his parents. We're his guardians. So don't even begin to think..."

"But Ms. Wren said that-"

"Forget what that old lady said! It doesn't matter! We're just protecting Zara from a monster that wants to kill him. Get that into perspective, okay?" Lina yelled. "Now, I think I smell dinner. Come on, let's go inside before we freeze and starve to death out here!" She smiled, and then ran inside.

"H-hey! Wait up for me!" Gourry called, following closely behind.

* * *

-*Sigh* Lina and Gourry were having such a nice moment there... and then Gourry has to open his mouth... Anyway, I guess this is kind of the turning point where Zara starts to bring them together. I'm hoping that, from here on out, Zara's going to create more sweet scenes than he ruined. Fingers crossed that it works out for them. By the next chapter, Zarahio will have found out that he no longer has Lorelei out to kill Lina, so he has to get someone else... someone Lina and friends never thought they'd see again...;3 R&R!-


	15. 15: Replacement! Another assassin!

-Very short commentary for a very short chapter. I'm so busy! *sigh* I haven't put the story on hold, or anything, just been busy. For some reason this chapter was really hard to write too...-

* * *

**15- Replacement! Another assassin?**

Lina officially knew three things that she hadn't known the day before. One, that Zara was not an ordinary human- he was half human and half monster. Two, was that, according to Zara, Lina and Gourry were his parents. And the third was the most shocking of all. She, Lina Inverse, was completely okay with the first two.

Well, not quite completely. But Lina could live with it.

Besides, there was now another problem to solve. They couldn't just keep wandering aimlessly. Zaragio was going to find out sooner or later that his little assassin- Lorelei- was no longer under his spell, and Lina was still alive.

"We should probably tell Mister Xellos and Miss Lorelei what happened." Amelia suggested.

"Good luck finding them." Zelgadis mumbled. "You can leave me out of that mess. The less I have to bother with those two, the better."

Lina nodded. "I think that we need to stay one step ahead of Zaragio. Figure out where he's going to be next, and be there waiting for him."

"So you think we should attack him instead of the other way around. Hmm, a risky tactic if you ask me." Zelgadis commented.

"Well, I think it's a good tactic." Gourry said. "We've only been acting defensively lately, and we always end up getting backed into a corner. A good offense is what we need to give us the edge over our opponents... say, are we eating breakfast anytime soon?"

"We just ate twenty minutes ago. Where were you?" Lina grinned. Leave it to the swordsman to work out strategic battle plans and then forget what he had for breakfast.

"Oh. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention." He apologised.

"Well, I agree with Lina and Gourry. It would be a good idea to stay one step ahead of Zaragio." Wren entered the room where the group was discussing their plans. They had been very appreciative of her offer to let them spend the night, and she had been thankful for their help cooking dinner and breakfast.

"But what is he going to do next?" Amelia asked. "We don't even know where he is going."

"I think I may have some idea." Wren offered. "Are you familiar with the city of Sairaag?" She asked.

"Yeah... we're kind of familiar with that particular place..." Lina said, her voice trailing off.

"I have good reason to believe that the city of Sairaag is going to be Zaragio's next target." Wren explained.

"Really? Why Sairaag?"Zelgadis asked.

"There is supposed to be a temple hidden beneath in the ruins of the destroyed city. Inside this temple is a magical amplifier that Zaragio could use to awaken Zara's powers."

"Hang on." Amelia interrupted. "You keep mentioning something about awakening Zara-chan's true powers. What, exactly do you mean by that?"

Wren turned a serious look towards Amelia. "There is much greater power hidden within that boy than he shows now. What you can see is the 'tip of the iceberg,' so to speak. Because of the mix of human and monster, Zara has a grave weakness- he cannot tap into his powers for self-defence. The only time he can use these powers is to defend someone that he cares about from mortal danger. He has very little fighting ability on his own at this point. His powers will slowly develop if he works with them, and he will be able to use his magic for his own purposes in time, but Zaragio wishes to summon all of this power at once and by force. This can only have dire consequences for the boy."

"That's terrible! Can't he see that what he wants to do is wrong?" Zander had entered the conversation, though he didn't know much about the subject.

Lina clenched her teeth. "When you're insane like that, you don't care what you do, or who you hurt, in the process of getting what you want. We once fought an assassin named Zumma who was in a similar situation. He ended up killing his son, Abel out of his madness. It can do terrible things to a person."

Zander backed away slightly. "Well, in that case, what can we do?"

"We can defeat Zaragio. Or at least make him see things rationally." Zelgadis suggested.

"And the only way to do that for sure is to meet up with him in Sairaag, right?" Lina grinned. "So that must be the place that we should head to next!"

"Sairaag? Does that mean that we'll get to see Sylphiel?" Gourry asked.

"Probably." Amelia replied.

"Then it's settled! Today we are setting off for Sairaag!" Lina said, jumping up.

"And I shall accompany you!" Zander replied, standing up as well.

"You _what_?" Lina exclaimed. She did not enjoy Zander's company.

"I will accompany you." Zander said again. "It's the least I can do for my little friend Zara and his new parents." The boy smiled.

Lina's eye twitched. "You will do nothing of the sort! We can manage just fine without you, and further more-"

"You can come with us if you want, Mister Zander." Amelia said.

"No he cannot!" Lina repeated.

"Why not?" Zander asked.

"Because I said so! And since you've decided to make me the parent in this situation, I have parental authority." The sorceress said.

"But wouldn't that give Gourry the same authority?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yeah! What do you say about it, Mister Gourry?" Amelia enthused.

"Huh? What are we talking about?" Gourry hadn't been paying attention. He was too busy helping Zara clean the breakfast dishes, a task that the three-year-old had mastered better than the swordsman.

"Don't let Zander come! He'll be a major annoyance!" Lina hissed.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Zander responded.

"Um... well..." Gourry looked back and forth between Lina and Zander. "Er... why don't you let Zara decide?" The tall swordsman shoved the little boy in front of him as if attempting to hide behind the three-year-old, which would have been highly impossible.

"Come on Zara! You have to let me come! Please?" Zander begged.

"Lina, why can't Zander come with us?" Zara asked.

"Because he's annoying." Lina said.

"But Lina, you say that I'm annoying. And you call Amelia annoying, and Gourry annoying, and even Zelgadis annoying sometimes too." The little boy pointed out.

"He's got a point." Zel agreed. "But how am I annoying?"

"Zel, your negativity always gets on my nerves. But that doesn't matter! I've gotten used to you guys!" Lina fumed.

"You'll get used to Mister Zander too." Amelia offered.

"But I don't want to get used to him!" The sorceress stated bluntly.

"If you don't mind my input, I feel that it would be incredibly useful to have Zander accompany you to Sairaag." Wren interrupted.

"What? You too, old lady?" Lina was shocked.

Wren nodded. "You see, Zander and I have a means of telepathic communication that we have been working on. If he accompanies you, it will allow me to keep in constant contact with you, which will be helpful in your quest."

Lina looked incredulously at the woman. "Is that so?" She asked. "Hmm..." Slapping Zander on the back, she exclaimed, "Alright then! You can be our human telephone!"

**(A/N: Anachronism, but I don't know what else to call him!)**

"H-human telephone?" Zander stammered. "Well... as long as I can help Zara out, I suppose it's okay..."

Zara was happy. "Yay! Zander gets to come too!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah... are we going to get moving? Come on! We're wasting daylight! We want to get to Sairaag before Zaragio does, so let's pick up the pace!" Lina began to gather her things together in order to leave.

"That girl can't stay in one place for very long, can she?" Zander asked.

"You're not kidding." Zelgadis replied. "Hmph... negativity..."

* * *

Lina made her way quickly through the forest, now on the path to Sairaag. It had been quite a while since she'd last been there, and she wasn't sure whether or not to be anxious about being allowed into the city.

"Should we stop for lunch somewhere?" Gourry asked.

"Stop worrying about your stomach, jellyfish-brain." Lina chided.

"But I'm hungry. Aren't you hungry, Lina?"

"No! Well... maybe... yes... but that doesn't matter! We need to get to Sairaag, right?" Lina stammered. She let go of Zara's hand, which she had been holding the whole time, and pulled a map out of her pack. "According to this map, it will take us about a week of travel time to get to Sairaag, and we have no idea how fast Zaragio can move. If he's already there when we arrive, then we're really in a bad situation."

"Miss Lina must be really anxious to get to Sairaag if she passes up the chance to stop for lunch." Amelia commented.

"Yeah, she seems pretty wound up." Zelgadis replied.

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought she was always this way." Zander sighed.

"No, actually she _is_ always this way. She just normally focuses her attention on food or other things." Zel responded.

"Oh dear..." Zander murmured, looking fearfully at Lina. '_Grandma Wren, what have I gotten myself into?'_

'_It's too late for you to turn back from your quest, Zander. They will need your help in getting to Sairaag.' _A familiar voice answered him back.

'_Don't worry. I'll help them out as best I can! That Lina girl is kind of scary though... are you really sure you want _her_ to be Zara's mom?'_

'_That was Zara's decision, not mine. But I believe that he chose well.' _Wren replied.

'_Just so long as she doesn't kill me along the way...' _Zander responded.

* * *

"Wow! You know, travelling really does feel much better on a full stomach!" Lina said as they finished packing up from lunch.

"And _you_ were the one who didn't want to stop and eat." Gourry teased.

"Forget about that, jellyfish-brain. Now let's get moving. We've wasted too much time already."

Lina turned to the path in front of them, but she was suddenly stopped by a person standing in the way. It was apparently a woman, wearing a short dark brown hooded robe that hid her face in the shadows. Her pants that showed from under her skirt were tucked into a pair of knee-high laced boots. She also had a large, blue gemstone tied around her neck..

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to continue further, Miss Lina Inverse." She said in a monotone, unemotional voice.

"What? Why would that be?" Lina asked. Who was this woman anyway? What did she want from them?

"My master, Zaragio, has instructed me to kill Lina Inverse and any who accompany her, save that boy." The woman pointed to Zara. "I have also been instructed to bring him back to my master once Lina Inverse is dead."

Lina picked up Zara and held him defensively. "I don't care what that crazy monster told you to do- you're not getting your hands on this kid, and you're certainly not going to kill me, or anyone else for that matter!"

"I see. Master Zaragio told me that I would most likely have to use force to reach my goal. He appears to have been accurate." The woman replied, stepping forward.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Zander asked nervously. "What do I do?"

"Look, what's-your-name! If you don't have very strong magical powers, then stay out of this lady's way. She's trying to kill us, and I don't need your annoyingness to help her out, got it?" Lina stared at Zander angrily. "If you want to be safe, take Zara. As long as you have him, that lady won't hurt you."

Zander nodded, his eyes flashing with fear. He reached out to take Zara out of Lina's hands, but the little boy didn't want to move. "Lina, what's going to happen to you?" He asked in a timid voice.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Lina reassured him, handing the little boy to Zander. "Now get out of our way so that we can get rid of this lady!"

Lina spun around to see that the woman was standing almost directly behind her. "I do not mind your tactics." The lady said in her monotone voice. "Once you have been killed, it will be easier to get the boy."

"Not so fast!" Gourry yelled, pulling his sword out. "We won't let you get away with that so easily!"

"That's right! We must defend Justice!" Amelia agreed, jumping up beside him.

"Got that right, lady! FIREBALL!" Lina shot an attack at the assassin.

The woman did not even move try to dodge-but she didn't need to. The Fireball stopped in mid-air directly in front of her concealed face. Effortlessly, she stepped aside just enough so that, when the Fireball flew past her, it did no damage. Lina and her friends stood, astounded. How had the Fireball just stopped to allow her time to dodge?

"Now it is my turn to attack." She said, showing the weapons that she had been carrying. They were three sharp daggers. The woman raised them as if to throw them, but the travellers never actually saw the weapons thrown. They seemed to disappear from her hand. Amelia screamed, and Lina's hand flew to her neck. It was as if something had grazed past and cut her. Turning around, Lina saw one of the daggers plunged into a tree directly behind her. It had barely missed her throat. Amelia had not been so lucky.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis called, rushing to the princess' side. She was clasping her arm, where her sleeve had been torn up by the dagger. The gash in her arm appeared deep, and the red-stained dagger lay on the ground just a small distance away.

The third dagger was stuck in the ground, directly in front of the tree that Zander and Zara were hiding behind. The woman surveyed what had happened. "I must be distracted. My aim was horrendous." She observed impassively.

"I'll say!" Lina replied, keeping her hand over the side of her neck to stop it from bleeding.

"H-how... how in the world did that happen? She didn't even throw the daggers. Or, I didn't see her throw them." Amelia spoke with a grateful expression to the chimera who was helping her out with a recovery spell.

"I'm afraid..." He began, "...that she must have the power to manipulate time around objects."

"Manipulate time?" Gourry asked, shocked.

"Zelgadis is correct. Master Zaragio gave me the ability to manipulate- that is, speed up and slow down- time around objects. However, my time manipulation skills are limited to inanimate objects." The woman replied.

Lina clenched her teeth. So this lady had slowed time around the Fireball in order to easily avoid it, but had sped time up around the daggers to make sure they couldn't dodge. It was certainly lucky that she seemed to have poor aim.

"Gourry!" Lina whispered.

"Huh?"

"I've figured out a way to attack her!"

"What? Really?" He asked.

"Yeah! She can manipulate time around inanimate objects, but not living ones! She'd be able to easily dodge any attack that I shot at her, but if you're there to attack her when she dodges, then we'll be able to attack her easily!" Lina explained.

"Ah! Cornering her! Good plan, Lina!" Gourry replied.

Lina shot another fireball at the woman, producing the same result as before. But as the lady dodged, Gourry was suddenly attacking with his sword. In a defensive move, the lady reached and did what a normal human would never have done- she grabbed the sword by the blade.

Gourry gasped, realising that she now had a hold on his sword- and that it didn't seem to be injuring her at all. _Who_ is_ she? _He wondered. Seeing his chance, he thrust the sword along with the woman toward a tree. She was forced to let go of the weapon, and fell on the ground. Her brown hood fell down, exposing her wavy, dark red hair. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis gasped as she raised her golden eyes toward them. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"It's..." Gourry stammered, trying and failing to put a name with the face. "It's that doll!"

"Ozzel!" Lina exclaimed.

* * *

"I thought that Ozzel was deactivated by Rezo when he was revived from the Hellmaster's Jar!" Zelgadis said.

"So did I!" Amelia agreed.

Ozzel began to pick herself up, brushing the grass off her skirt. "It was thanks to Master Zaragio that I was revived." She explained.

"You mean that Zaragio revived you? But how?" Lina asked.

"Yes. It seems that, when Master Rezo deactivated me, a portion of my consciousness became trapped in one of the shards of the broken Hellmaster's Jar. Using this, Zaragio was able to return me to my former state... with a few adjustments." Ozzel explained.

"You mean like the ability to manipulate time?" Zelgadis asked.

Ozzel nodded. "Yes." She replied. "He instructed that I use my powers to fulfil the task that he had for me."

"Which would be... to kill me, correct?" Lina asked suspiciously.

"Yes." Ozzel answered.

"But why? Why would you do such a thing, Miss Ozzel?" Amelia wanted to know.

Ozzel's emotionless expression did not change. "Because I had no reason to refuse."

Lina sighed. It was the truth, after all. Ozzel would not feel particularly close to them. The whole time they knew her, they had been working against her, trying to get the Hellmaster's Jar from her. There was the brief time after Zumma had been killed that Ozzel had given the jar to Lina, but that had not lasted long. Zelgadis had stolen the jar, and then Pokota had stolen it back, and Ozzel didn't know whether or not to revive her master, and Lina and her friends had been attacking all the while... Lina could understand why Ozzel would have no reason to refuse an order to kill them.

"Well, it looks like we have no option but to defeat you if we want to live, huh?" Lina asked.

"That is correct." Ozzel nodded again. She pulled a second set of daggers out, but Lina was too fast.

"Stand back you guys!" She instructed to her friends. "_Darkness beyond twilight... crimson beyond blood that flows..."_

Lina friends got out of the way as fast as they could, dragging Zander and Zara behind them. "Wh-what's going on?" Zander asked nervously.

"You don't want to know!" Gourry replied.

"_DRAGON SLAVE!"_

After the area had cleared, Lina's friends examined the damage. Zander was dumbstruck. "I... I never knew that girl had so much power..." He stammered. "This is like... the most powerful spell ever..."

"Ah, no way!" Lina replied. "There's the Ragna Blade, which is much stronger, and the Giga Slave, which is even more powerful than that... but I can't use it because it risks destroying the whole world." Lina explained.

"D-destroying the whole world?" Zander stammered. He was more scared of Lina now than ever.

"What happened to Miss Ozzel?" Amelia asked.

"I figure she must have been blasted away by that Dragon Slave." Lina remarked.

"But Ozzel is stronger than she seems, and she seems to be very loyal to Zaragio. I have a feeling that she'll be back." Zelgadis replied.

"What? That lady who wanted to kill us is going to be back?" Zander asked.

Lina nodded. "Yep. So, let's get a move on! Ozzel has cost us too much travelling time already! Pick up the pace! We want to get to Sairaag before Zaragio does, and with Ozzel on our tail, he may already know that we're on our way! If that's the case, then it could be bad for us!"

"Very true." Zelgadis agreed. "Let's get going then."

"Hmm..." Lina said thoughtfully as she walked, holding Zara's hand again. "I wonder... why is it that poor Ozzel always gets stuck working for the crazies?"

"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.

"Well, first she served Rezo, and we all know what _his_ problem was. Then she had to serve that crazy lady, Gioconda, and then Zumma- all the while still working for Rezo- and now she has to work for Zaragio! I kind of feel sorry for her..."

"Yes, I do too. I wish that Miss Ozzel could have a master who would not make her do bad things. She would make a good maid for the Seyruun family..." Amelia observed.

While the group talked, Zander stayed toward the back, trapped in his own thoughts.

'_Grandma Wren, I've changed my mind about travelling. I want to go home!' _Zander whined mentally.

'_I'm sorry, Zander. Lina Inverse and her friends need you. You will be alright.' _Came the old woman's reply.

'_I think I'm going to get killed!'_

'_There comes a time for all things to die. If your time comes, then there is no arguing with it.'_

'_Very encouraging, Grandma Wren..." _Zander sighed bitterly, following behind Lina and friends. He had once said that he was bored with having a normal life. Well, he wasn't bored anymore. Nor did he feel safe.

* * *

-What's even scarier than a living doll with the ability to manipulate time? Lina with parental authority of course! *hides* Oh well... I like Ozzel a lot, and was sad when Rezo deactivated her. So I wanted to bring her back! Yay! But she's still a villain... *sad face* R&R-


	16. 16: Teamwork! A lesson in friendship?

-I apologise for the delays. My schedule has really picked up after the school break ended. Hopefully I'll have more time to write over the Christmas holidays. I really enjoyed this chapter, and was actually surprised how easy it was to write the back and forth between Amelia and Zel. Lina was really hard to write this time though...-

* * *

**16- Teamwork! A lesson in friendship?**

"AMELIA GET BACK HERE!" Lina was yelling and chasing the princess around.

Amelia ducked behind Zel. "Mister Zelgadis, don't let Miss Lina hurt me!" She cowered, hugging the chimera from behind.

"Stand aside, Zel! Let me at her!" Lina shouted.

"Now, Lina, can't we find some way to resolve this without violence?" Zelgadis asked, blushing slightly and placing a comforting hand on the shoulder of the girl hiding behind him.

"Not going to happen! She knows better than to steal my food!" Lina roared.

"Miss Lina, you really, honestly looked like you weren't going to eat it!" Amelia said timidly.

"When do I ever NOT eat something?" Lina wanted to know.

"Lina has a point." Gourry mentioned.

Zander was hiding behind a tree and watching. He was officially terrified of Lina now. "What's wrong, Zander?" Zara asked, approaching him.

"L-Lina's gone berserk!" Zander answered.

"What? No, she always does that." Zara answered.

Zander shuddered. "You have got to be kidding me..." He groaned.

Lina had thrown a Fireball at Zelgadis and Amelia, who attempted to dodge, and ended up tripping over each other and falling. At least the Fireball didn't hit them.

"Now you're really going to pay!" Lina yelled, running after Amelia.

"Please Miss Lina! Be reasonable!" Amelia called as Lina chased her off in another direction. Gourry helped Zelgadis up and watched the two girls until they disappeared through the trees.

"When is Lina ever reasonable?" Gourry asked, laughing slightly.

"You've got that right." Zel replied, still blushing slightly. When they fell, Amelia's face had been just a bit too close to his.

"Is Lina going to beat up Amelia?" Zara asked.

"Who knows..." Gourry said, his voice trailing off. "Amelia doesn't like violence, but she'd probably fight back if she had to."

"Say, Gourry?" Zelgadis asked curiously. "Have you ever fought against a chimera?"

"Only you." Gourry replied. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Zel answered. "You do realise that, if Lina does anything to Amelia, it's _me _you're going to have to protect her from." He grinned.

Gourry smiled back. "Yeah, I got that." He laughed.

Zel's smiled faded slightly. "I'm serious."

* * *

"Miss Lina, could we please talk this over in a civilised manner?" Amelia pleaded. "I said that I was sorry. Can't we work something out?"

"I'm done working things out! I just need somebody that I can hit with a Fireball!" Lina yelled, venting her pent up anger.

"But Miss Lina, can't that be someone other than me?" Amelia asked.

"Well, you're the only one around, so-"

"Oh dear. Why are two people who are supposed to be good friends fighting?"

Lina and Amelia looked up at the person who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed like a sorcerer, but they couldn't quite see his face, and were unable to tell just what emotion his expression displayed.

"And just who are you supposed to be? Think of a good answer, because I need to throw this Fireball at someone soon." Lina asked threateningly.

"Oh, dear me. Quite the hostile one, aren't you? Don't worry about me, I'm just a travelling magician." Lina and Amelia couldn't see his mischievous smile, but it was perceptible in the way he spoke.

"What do you want with us?" Amelia questioned timidly.

"I simply feel that the two of you could use a little lesson in teamwork. It certainly wouldn't hurt." He replied.

"What are you talking about?" Lina yelled, finally throwing her Fireball in the direction of the magician. He dodged it adeptly.

"That was very rude of you to attack me like that." He said, almost teasingly.

"That was very rude of you to sneak up on us like that!" Lina shot back. "So now what? Are you going to try and attack us now?"

"I suppose I will." The magician replied, the smile audible in his voice once again. He created a small ball of magical energy in his hand, and began to aim it at Lina and Amelia.

"Hah! That's your attack? It looks pretty pathetic." Lina teased.

"Oh, I think that you will find this more than enough to teach you a little lesson." He replied, sending the attack toward them.

Lina had not expected such a large explosion from such as small amount of magical energy. The air around her was filled with smoke and she couldn't see Amelia or the magician. She turned to look for them, but suddenly a strange, dizziness overcame her and everything faded to black.

* * *

"The explosion came from over this way!" Zelgadis yelled, Gourry following quickly behind him. Upon hearing the attack, they had left Zara and Zander back at their campsite and rushed to find Lina and Amelia.

"That wasn't one of Lina's spells! I'm sure of it!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Nor Amelia's. In fact, I don't think I recognise that one." Zel agreed.

"Do you think it could be Ozzel?" Gourry asked.

"Who knows? We're still not totally sure what tricks she might have up her sleeve..." Zelgadis' voice trailed off as he continued running. They came to the small clearing where Lina and Amelia had been attacked. Zel gasped as he saw two unconscious figures collapsed on the ground. "Amelia! Lina!"

"What in the world happened here?" Gourry asked, running to where Lina was and crouching down beside her to make sure she was okay. Zelgadis did the same for Amelia.

"Do you think Ozzel did this?" Gourry asked nervously, clutching Lina a bit closer.

"I doubt it. If it had been Ozzel, then she'd have ki-" Zelgadis stopped, realising what he was saying. "Erm... she'd have come after us and Zara afterward." He corrected. They could tell that Lina and Amelia were alive, and they didn't want to discuss otherwise.

"Lina? Lina, can you hear me? Wake up." Gourry said, still holding the girl close. Lina slowly began to open her eyes. She looked up at Gourry.

"Huh... Gourry...?" She murmured.

"Lina! You're awake!" Gourry responded happily.

"Gourry... what are you...?" She began to ask. Gourry suddenly realised that he was holding Lina and practically hugging her at the same time. He dropped Lina quickly and rushed backward a few steps.

"I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean... you were just unconscious... I was kind of worried... please don't hurt me!" He attempted to shield himself from any attack that she might toss at him. Instead, she just gave him a puzzled look.

"Um... thanks for worrying about me, Gourry, but I'm fine. Really." She replied, getting up.

Gourry was taken aback that she hadn't attacked him, or even yelled at him for that matter! "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, drawing closer timidly.

"Of course." She asserted, turning around to face Zelgadis and Amelia, who was still unconscious. "Zel? What's wrong with Amelia?"

"She's still unconscious, just like you were." He answered. "What happened anyway?"

Lina thought for a moment. "Oh, we must have been knocked unconscious by the attack of that strange magician guy." She replied.

"Magician?" Gourry asked.

"Well, that's what he called himself. He shot that strange attack at us, and then..." Lina's voice trailed off. Amelia was starting to wake up as well.

"Amelia? Are you alright?" Zelgadis asked anxiously. Lina seemed to be okay, but it had taken Amelia longer to wake up and Zel was afraid that it could indicate some sort of problem.

Amelia quickly dispelled this assumption by standing up quickly, brushing herself off. "Of course I'm alright, Mister Zelgadis. It takes a lot more than some crazy magician person to hurt me!"

"Well, that's a relief." Zelgadis responded, somewhat unsure. There was something about Amelia's behaviour that was... different. "Lina was saying something about a magician. What happened to the two of you earlier?"

"Oh yeah, that guy." Amelia said. "He just randomly popped out of nowhere."

"He sure did. It was so strange." Lina agreed. "I threw a Fireball at him... but for some reason I can't remember why..." Her voice trailed off.

"Well, he certainly deserved it, Miss Lina! I mean, after all, who in the world sneaks around and surprises two young girls in the middle of a forest? It's creepy and stalkerish! The next time I see that guy, I am going to blast his head off!" Amelia said angrily.

"That's right, Amelia! People who do bad things like that need to be brought to Justice!" Lina exclaimed brightly.

Gourry and Zelgadis exchanged an 'I-think-I've-lost-my-mind' look.

"Did... Amelia just say something about blasting someone's head off...?" Zelgadis asked.

"Did... Lina just say something about Justice...?" Gourry questioned.

Lina and Amelia noticed their confusion. "Gourry? Zel? Are you guys alright?" Lina asked.

"Yeah, you're just standing around like idiots." Amelia agreed.

"Um... it's nothing..." Gourry said, his voice fading.

"Okay then. Let's get back to camp then, Miss Lina. I'm sure that Mister Zander and Zara-chan are waiting for us..." Amelia said, dragging Lina behind her.

"Ow! Amelia! That hurts!" Lina complained, but Amelia wasn't paying any attention to her.

Gourry and Zelgadis exchanged another concerned look.

"Zel... I have a bad feeling about this..." Gourry said.

"It seems that their personalities have been... switched." Zelgadis observed.

"But what do we do about it?" Gourry asked, suddenly concerned about their friends. "They can't _stay_ like that!"

"I'm not sure... but there must be a way to fix this. We'll find it." Zel replied firmly.

* * *

The two of them caught up to Lina and Amelia by the time the girls made it back to the small camp that the travellers had made. It was getting dark, and Zander was beginning to set up sleeping bags. Zara saw the two girls coming. "Lina! You're back! I missed you!" The little boy exclaimed happily. He ran up to Lina and hugged her.

"Zara!" Lina replied sweetly, picking up Zara and hugging him tightly and spinning him around. "Oh, I missed you too!"

Zara was surprised. The only time Lina had ever shown affection like this was the first time he had used the Dragon Slave to save her life, so of course it was deserved at that time. Now, he decided that he must have either done something good that he didn't know about, or that Lina had officially lost her mind.

Zander, who had been helping Zara took a few steps back apprehensively. He was already afraid out of his mind of the violent version of Lina, and was startled by her sudden change in attitude. This only made him more afraid.

Amelia walked forward, eyeing Lina and Zara with disgust. "Honestly, Miss Lina. The two of you have only been separated for a few minutes. Is all that really necessary? It's making me sick."

Lina turned a fervent look at Amelia. "Amelia, you could never understand the beautiful relationship that we have! It's the work of the Justice of True Love! The kind of maternal bond shared between myself and Zara is something indescribable with mere words!" Lina was in Justice-speech mode and Amelia was not happy about it.

"I can think of one." Amelia shot back. "Irritating."

Lina and Amelia were eyeing each other viciously. Lina had put Zara down, and he was now standing beside Zander. Or, rather, Zander was trying to hide behind him.

Amelia had Lina's familiar look of blind fury, while Lina's face held the fanatically overzealous look that was usually found with the princess of Justice.

"Hey! Take it easy! Calm down!" Gourry said, grabbing Lina while Zelgadis tried to calm Amelia. Lina composed herself quickly, smiling at Gourry with gratitude. He blushed slightly- she didn't smile at him like that very often. Amelia was much harder to control.

"Let go of me, Mister Zelgadis! I can take care of myself! You're getting in the way! Let go!" She protested loudly, trying to escape his firm grasp.

"Geez, calm down Amelia. I'm just trying to help." He replied.

"Well I don't need your help! Let go of me now!" She pulled her arm free of his grasp and whacked him over the head with one of the slippers that Lina normally used.

Zelgadis rubbed his head where Amelia had hit it. It didn't hurt- it took much more than that to get through Zel's tough skin- but he was still in disbelief that _Amelia_, of all people, had hit him.

"Well, do whatever you want then. Just don't break anything, okay." He sighed, frustrated.

"I can't promise that." Amelia replied threateningly.

Zander approached Zelgadis and Gourry apprehensively. Zara was a bit bolder. "What happened to Lina and Amelia?" The three-year-old asked as the two girls began their argument again.

"We think they had their personalities switched." Gourry explained.

"P-personalities switched?" Zander stammered in disbelief. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently." Zel said unhappily.

Amelia was still yelling at Lina, who was trying to keep the conversation peaceful. "P-please Amelia, can we forget all this violence?" The sorceress asked diffidently.

"What are you saying, Miss Lina? That you don't think you're strong enough to take me on?" Amelia teased.

"I am strong enough to take you on! And defeat you too! But violence is not the answer to petty squabbles such as this one!"Lina defended.

Amelia turned aside insolently. "Hmph. If that's the way you see it, Miss Lina. I guess there's no point in arguing with someone who won't listen. I'm going to bed then." She glanced angrily at Lina, and left.

Lina shook her head. "Honestly, I can't imagine why she's so violent."

"I don't know. Maybe a good night's sleep is all she needs. You too." Zelgadis said. "Maybe, if we're lucky, then this will all be back to normal tomorrow morning."

Lina gave Zel a puzzled look, but nodded. "I guess so. Getting some sleep sounds pretty good right about now." She agreed.

Zelgadis hoped that what he said had been true, and that a little bit of sleep would bring everything back to normality.

* * *

No such luck.

When Gourry woke up, he could hear yelling. _What are people fighting about first thing in the morning? _He wondered.

"It's not like you have to worry about such little things, you know!"

"Some little things can and should be worried about! If you weren't so thick-skinned, you might realise that!"

"_You're_ calling _me_ thick skinned? Look who's talking!"

"Don't go there, Amelia!"

"I wouldn't if you weren't acting like an idiot!"

Gourry stared at them, wondering if he might be dreaming. _Amelia and Zel fighting? _He wondered. Suddenly, he felt someone leaning on his shoulder.

"Gourry! Amelia and Zel have been fighting for at least ten minutes now. Please make them stop..." Lina whined.

_Oh yeah, that's right. Personality switch. _He remembered. "What happened anyway?" He asked.

"Amelia was cooking breakfast while you were still asleep." Zara explained. "She accidentally burnt her hand, and Zelgadis went to help her, but she got mad at him instead."

Lina nodded. "So then _she_ started yelling, and _he_ started yelling, and so on and so forth until they were fighting like they are now. Amelia can be so vicious."

Gourry sighed, realising what must have happened. "I'll see what I can do." He said, getting up and approaching the pair who were arguing.

"It's not my fault you were being clumsy! I was just trying to intervene before you hurt yourself even worse!" Zelgadis was yelling.

"I was NOT clumsy! And why in the world would you even care if I hurt myself worse anyway?" Amelia shot back.

"Because-" Gourry grabbed Zelgadis by the arm before the chimera could yell an answer.

"Let it go, Zel." Gourry instructed.

"But-"

"Just calm down and forget about it, okay?" Zelgadis was surprised to see such a serious expression on the swordsman's face.

"Alright... whatever..." He muttered.

"Hmph. For once, it's actually Mister Gourry acting like the smart one." Amelia scoffed, turning back to preparing breakfast.

"Gourry, what did you do that for?" Zelgadis asked, still angry from the argument. "I was only trying to help her, and she just got so angry with me for no reason..."

"I know how you feel." Gourry replied. "The best thing to do in this situation is to just let it go, and let her think that she's right. That always worked with Lina."

"Oh yeah... you have to put up with this a lot, don't you?" Zel responded, suddenly realising that this was how Lina usually reacted when Gourry tried to help her.

"Yeah..." Gourry nodded. "But... something's off. I'm not sure how to explain it. It just seems a little..."

"..exaggerated?" Zelgadis finished.

"Yeah. That's it. I know Lina can be awfully mean and vicious at times, but not all the time and not as much as Amelia is now." The swordsman observed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I think that the spell is affecting their normal personalities as well. Amelia isn't usually so... however it is that Lina is acting now." Zelgadis agreed. "Say, I think you might want to get some breakfast before Lina eats all of it. One thing that hasn't changed is her appetite."

Gourry suddenly realised that he was missing breakfast. "H-hold on! Save some for me!" He called.

* * *

By the time the group stopped for lunch, Amelia was getting very annoyed. Lina had been humming some song the whole time they were walking and it wasn't just annoying because it was annoying. It was annoying because it was _good_. She wished that Lina would stop covertly flaunting that irritatingly amazing voice of hers. But the carefree sorceress wasn't paying any attention to Amelia. She was just walking and daydreaming about nothing in particular.

"Why don't we get some lunch now?" Gourry finally asked, his hunger overcoming the desire to hear more of Lina's song. He didn't like the fact that her personality had changed, but he did enjoy seeing her act just a little bit more open.

"Sounds like a good idea! I'm starving!" Lina replied smiling.

The group settled down to start cooking some of the food that they had brought. Zander had quite a time finding a spot that was strategically placed as far away as he could get from both Lina and Amelia, not sure which of them he should be more afraid of.

Zara felt that the tension in the air needed to be lifted somewhat, so he took it upon himself to make conversation. He talked for a long while about how good the food was, (he ate more than usual due to the fact that Amelia's irritation, and Gourry and Zelgadis' concern were draining his energy) and what a nice day it was, (it was actually quite cold) and anything else that happened to be on his three-and-a-half-year-old mind. He was having a hard time of it too, because every time he'd start talking about one thing, he'd feel Amelia getting more annoyed at him, and so he'd change the subject, hoping to calm the princess down.

The change in personality seemed to be growing more and more exaggerated with each passing minute, and Zara could feel Amelia's irritation. He was beginning to get scared, wondering what he was going to talk about now. No one else was talking. Not at that moment at least. Zara moved to the side with Zander. "Do you want to go eat somewhere else?" The older boy asked.

"That sounds like a good idea. Amelia is scary, and something is very wrong with Lina." Zara nodded.

With all that Zara had eaten, Lina hadn't had the chance to ask for any of his food. (Stealing it would be quite unjust of her!) Looking at Amelia, she spied a dumpling that had been pushed to the side of the princess' plate. Eyeing it hungrily, she began, "Um, Amelia? Are... are you going to eat that dumpling?"

"No." Was the irritable reply.

Seizing her chance, Lina swiped the dumpling up with her fork and shoved it into her mouth happily. Amelia jumped up angrily. "Miss Lina, who told you that you could just take that?"

"Y-you said you weren't going to eat it..." Lina replied, cowering slightly.

"Whether or not I was going to eat it makes absolutely no difference! That was mine!" Amelia materialised a ball of magical energy and began chasing Lina with it. Lina began to run frantically, in an attempt to avoid the wrath of her angry friend.

Gourry and Zelgadis watched the scene. "They're getting worse and worse." Zelgadis observed. "You can hardly recognise the original personalities anymore. Amelia is worse than Lina used to be. And Lina is different from the Amelia I'm used to."

Gourry nodded. "Yeah. I wonder if this is the work of that spell..."

Suddenly Zander came bursting out of the forest from the direction that he and Zara had gone to eat the rest of their lunch with a panicked expression. "Y-you guys! Someone's kidnapped Zara!" He yelled.

"What?" Zelgadis and Gourry both asked at the same time.

"Yeah! We were just eating our lunch when suddenly this random girl appears out of nowhere, asks me who the heck I am, grabs Zara, and promptly disappears!" Zander explained frantically. "I think she was a monster! She had pink hair and these really big, scary looking wings!"

Gourry and Zel both sighed in relief at the mention of the hair and wings. "Lorelei..." Zel muttered. "As if we don't have enough problems..."

"Don't worry, she's not going to hurt Zara." Gourry reassured Zander. "They're best friends. She'll bring him back when she's done with him. Hopefully..." He was suddenly interrupted by a certain red-haired sorceress grabbing on to him.

"Gourry, don't let Amelia hurt me!" She cowered, hugging f him from behind.

"Get out of the way, Mister Gourry! Let me at her!" Amelia shouted.

"Come on now, can't we find some way to resolve this without violence?" Gourry asked, pulling Lina to his side protectively.

"Not going to happen! She knows better than to steal my food!" Amelia shot back.

"But Amelia! You said that you weren't going to eat it!" Lina cried, nearly suffocating Gourry with her grip.

"I told you that it didn't matter whether or not I planned on eating that thing!" Amelia yelled tossing a ball of magical energy at the two of them. Gourry attempted to dodge, but had Lina clinging to his side, and ended up tripping and falling, dragging Lina with him.

"Boy, this is great! You know what would make it better though? Popcorn!" A pink-haired monster commented to her best friend, watching the events from some distance away.

"But Lorelei, you don't eat popcorn. You _are_ a monster after all."

Lorelei laughed at Zara's point. "That's true. But popcorn just seems to add a feel of... excitement. You know?"

"That's so true..." Zara replied.

"Though I suppose that the crazy emotions that all these people are dealing with is popcorn enough for now. Right?" Lorelei asked.

"Actually it's giving me a headache." Zara admitted.

"Oh, that's right. Negative emotions weaken you. I completely forgot." Lorelei replied, unable to believe what she was about to do. "Zara, do you know that you're my bestest friend in the whole entire world?" She asked, throwing her arms around the boy.

"Thank you Lorelei. You're my best friend too." Zara smiled, feeling much better, and sending a wave of positive energy toward Lorelei. Unlike the energy coming from a normal human, Zara's happiness didn't faze her at all.

"So... are you a monster or not...?" Zander asked Lorelei nervously.

"I _am _a monster- and freaking proud of it too." Lorelei asserted, sending a mischievous glare and a fanged smile toward Zander.

The older boy backed away some more, fearing the monster even more now. Lorelei grinned as she took pleasure in Zander's fear. Turning to Zara, she laughed. "I love hanging around your crazy friends."

"I know." Zara responded, laughing as well.

* * *

It was dark again and they had set up camp for the night. Gourry and Zelgadis had sat somewhat away from the group, sending concerned glances at Lina and Amelia respectively. Zara had practically inhaled his food and actually got seconds for once, while Lorelei was still tagging along drinking a cup of tea. Amelia's irritation had only gotten worse, and so Lina had sat, cowering away from the princess along with Zander.

Dinner was cleaned up by this time, and the fire was beginning to fade. "I'm afraid that we need more firewood." Zander commented, looking at the almost nonexistent pile of sticks and twigs that they had left to feed the warming fire.

"You're afraid of_ everything_." Amelia accused.

"Not true!" Zander defended.  
"It is _so_ true." Lorelei agreed with Amelia. "Name _one_ good thing that you're not afraid of."

"Bugs." Zander replied, folding his arms. "I'm not afraid of bugs."

Lorelei walked up to a tree and plucked a large spider off the trunk. She waved it in Zander's face. He screamed, and twisted to get out of the way of the writhing creature.

"Hah. See, you _are_ afraid of bugs." The little monster replied.

"Spiders are not bugs!" Zander defended.

"Well... technically arachnids _do_ fall into the phylum Arthropoda, along with insects." Zara reasoned.

"What is it with you and your taxonomy?" Lorelei asked the little boy.

Zander shrugged. "Zara always did like looking at that zoology book that we had back at Grandma Wren's house... but I always assumed that it was just for the pictures..."

"I guess I'll go get some firewood." Gourry said, starting off.

"Hey, wait up, Gourry! It would certainly be unjust to let you go off by yourself! I'm coming with you!" Lina asserted, jumping up.

"Uh, okay. Thanks... Lina..." He replied, not sure how to respond to Lina the way she was now.

"I'll go try to find some wood too." Zelgadis said.

"Hey, don't leave without me! I'm the best at gathering firewood and you guys know it!" Amelia scolded, following close behind Zel.

Zara, Zander, and Lorelei watched them go. "Hmm... I wonder what other kinds of bugs would be living around here..." Lorelei said mischievously, glaring at Zander.

Zander stiffened. _It's going to be a long trip to Sairaag..._

* * *

Gourry and Lina were gathering wood, and Lina was humming again, much to Gourry's delight. Hopefully they'd find some way to reverse the personality switch, but for now, maybe he should enjoy it just a little. They didn't say anything while they were picking up the scattered pieces of wood that they could find on the cold forest floor. Without realising it, they both reached for the same particular branch at the same time. Their hands touched and, as a natural reaction to Lina's usual fiery temper, Gourry pulled his hand away quickly. Lina looked at him in surprise, picking up the branch that they had both been reaching for.

"What did you do that for?" She asked.

"Do what for?" He replied, not sure what she meant.

"You just pulled your hand away, like you were afraid. Is something wrong? Is there something about my hand?" Lina questioned, a look of concern in her eyes.

"N-no! Of course not! Your hand is fine! It's great, actually. Really. Oh, but not in a weird way or anything... I was just saying, as far as hands go... you... er..." He was stuttering, not sure what to tell her. In a normal situation he would expect to be whacked over the head, but he had to remind himself that Lina was not being herself. She looked at him with a serious expression.

"So... you're saying that it's not my hand, it's _me_?"

"Yes! ... wait! No!... hang on, what?" He did not know how to appropriately respond to that question, and felt even more like an idiot than he had just a minute before.

Lina sighed. "Gourry, why don't you trust me?" She asked.

"What do you mean? I _do_ trust you!" He said. He would always trust Lina, no matter what was happening.

"Then why do you act like I'm going to hurt you every time you say something? You act like you're scared of me. I won't bite or anything, you know."

Well, a day and a half ago, that would have been debatable. But this Lina didn't know that, and the hurt look in her eyes made Gourry want to run and hide somewhere to avoid making her even more upset. But he figured that maybe running would make her more upset too. This new Lina was so hard to figure out!

"I just... well, you normally... I wouldn't... you know I don't... well..." He tried to say something, and each time he decided against it and ended up stuttering incomprehensible phrases.

"If you don't want to be around me, Gourry, you should just tell me." Lina said bluntly. "Do you not want to be around me?"

"No!" Gourry said, and seeing the look on Lina's face, continued. "I mean... no, I don't _not _want to be around you... so it's a double negative...that means... uh, my head hurts..." He rubbed his head, trying to remember the connotation of double negatives. It hurt to think about things like that, and it was only making him appear as even more of an idiot in front of Lina. He wanted to run and hide even more now.

"Well, you should just tell me these things!" Lina said discontentedly. "It's not like I can read your mind or anything! You need to tell me when you want me to go away! I'm fine with that, as long as it makes you happy!" She turned and ran off in another direction. He watched her go, unsure of what he was supposed to do; how he was supposed to react.

_I just want the old Lina back..._

* * *

"Amelia, you're not supposed to pull branches off trees. Even if they don't have leaves, they're still full of moisture, so they won't burn." Zelgadis advised.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot! This branch is already dead, but it hasn't fallen yet! I'm doing the tree a favour by getting the branch down, and then we'll have plenty of firewood." Amelia snapped.

Zel watched in concern as the small girl tugged at the enormous branch hanging off one of the trees, trying to gently free it from its position. Suddenly, without warning, the entire branch snapped off the trunk of the tree and began to fall on top of the girl pulling at it.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis yelled, jumping toward where the princess stood, trying to protect her from the falling branch. He grabbed her and pulled her out of the way. The two of them fell, and landed in a heap beside where the branch had landed. Zel was relieved to see that, aside from a few scratches, Amelia was unharmed.

"GET... OFF... OF... ME!" Amelia yelled, pushing Zelgadis aside angrily. "What in the world was that for? I could have taken care of the branch myself!"

"But it was moving so fast. There wouldn't have been time to cast a spell-"

"There would have been if you hadn't _tackled_ me!" Amelia responded.

Zelgadis could feel his anger rising, the way it had that morning. He tried to remember what Gourry had told him. _Just let it go. Let her think she's right. _

"Besides, don't you think that _you_ could have crushed me even more easily than that dead branch? What would the purpose of it be then?" Amelia pointed out.

Zel clenched his teeth. "I would have never-"

"What are you talking about? You'd have never thought of that? Maybe you should start thinking a bit more!"

"You're not letting me finish!" Zelgadis yelled.

"Since when did you decide that you're more important than I am?" Amelia shot back.

"I never said that! But I have saved your life on several occasions, so you should at least be grateful!"

"And how many times have I saved you? You should really think more before you say things, Mister Zelgadis! Why are you so overprotective anyway?"

"Because..." Zel began angrily. "I_ care_ about you! Isn't that enough reason to want to protect you?"

Amelia's expression changed slightly, as if she wasn't sure how she wanted to respond to that. Then, wrathfully, she turned around and began to leave. "Well, maybe you should just care a bit _less_!"

* * *

"I can't believe him! That idiot thinks for some reason that he has to step in and save me every time that I'm in the slightest bit of danger!" Amelia was ranting. "It's practically insulting my defensive skills! Right, Miss Lina?"

"At least he wants to be around you and isn't _afraid_ of you..." Lina sighed.

"Well, I am sick of it! He's acting like I can't do anything on my own!" Amelia and Lina had met each other, Amelia still fuming, and Lina still upset. Amelia was ranting, and Lina was listening politely, not quite paying attention. "I hate it!" Amelia finished.

"But you don't hate _Zel_, right?" Lina asked.

Amelia blushed. "O-of course I do! He's the one who started this whole mess!" She stammered.

"No, I think he was only trying to be helpful. You were the one who took offense to it." Lina reasoned.

"Miss Lina! If you're suggesting that I could actually _like_ that hard-headed, overprotective..."

"I didn't say that! I only said that you don't hate him! Big difference!" Lina defended, shielding herself from being hit by Amelia. She lowered her arms slightly when she saw that Amelia was not planning to attack her anymore. "You _don't _hate him, right?"

Amelia sighed, calming down slightly. "No... I don't hate him." She finally answered. "It's just that I... I'm just no good with these sorts of situations. I don't know how to react when some really good-looking guy is trying his hardest to help me out. I'm afraid that he'll think I'm weak, and I don't want that."

Lina nodded. "For some strange reason, I feel like I understand your situation." She replied, looking puzzled.

Amelia looked back at her friend, who, she realised, she had not been acting very kind to lately. "Yeah. I know what you mean, Miss Lina. For some reason, I can identify being frustrated with someone who is too nervous or stubborn to show their real feelings. Do you think we're going crazy?"

Lina laughed. "Crazier than we already are?"

"M-Miss Lina! I am not crazy! You take that back!" Amelia began yelling, but was suddenly interrupted.

"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt this conversation, but I must intrude."

Lina and Amelia turned around quickly at the familiar voice. "Ozzel!" Lina yelled.

"Miss Ozzel! What are you doing here?" Amelia growled.

"I am here to complete my mission to Master Zaragio that I was unable to complete the last time that we met." The doll replied.

"You mean to kill us?" Amelia accused.

"That is correct." Ozzel revealed the daggers that she held in her hands. "Manipulation of time has caused my aim to suffer, but my technique has been improving. As long as you do not struggle, your deaths should be swift and painless."

"In the name of Justice, you will not get away with your evil deeds!" Lina asserted.

"That's right! We're going to fight back no matter what!" Amelia agreed.

* * *

"Gourry! Gourry! Look at how big this cicada is! I can barely fit it into my hand!" Zara enthused, showing the swordsman a glimpse of his thrashing captive.

"Hah! I've got something even better! Check it out! A millipede!" Lorelei called, waving the many-legged bug in the air triumphantly.

"Whoa! A diplopod! How amazing!" Zara called, releasing the cicada that flew away with a buzz. "they have the most legs of the entire subphylum myriapoda! Isn't that cool, Gourry? ... Gourry?"

"Huh? What?" Gourry looked up, hearing his name twice. He hadn't been paying attention to Zara and Lorelei's bug-catching efforts at all.

"Are you okay?" Zara asked. He could very easily tell that something was wrong with his tall companion.

"Nothing... I just..."

"Just what?" Lorelei asked, thinking that it probably would be rude to mention that she was really enjoying his foul mood.

"I just kind of want the old Lina back." He replied.

"Me too. I don't like it when she's all affectionate like that for no reason. It's creepy." Zara nodded.

"I think it's funny." Lorelei said, but was quickly shut up by an angry glare from her best friend- one that she never knew he had in him. Her respect for the boy as a monster grew a little.

Zander was watching the scene, not sure whether it was safe to intrude. He was wary of the fact that Lorelei and Zara might still have a few assorted arthropods squirming in their pockets.

The sound of hurried footsteps was audible, and Zara recognised it. "Zelgadis! You're back!" He said, getting up to approach the returning chimera. "Hey! Come look what Lorelei found! It's really cool-"

_WHAM!_

Zelgadis wasn't paying any attention to the boy who seemed, at least, to have forgotten that they were expected to return with firewood. Instead, he turned quickly and gave a hard punch of frustration and angst to a nearby tree, hurting the plant much more than he hurt his hand.

"Z-Zelgadis...? Th-that was really random!" Zara backed away with a baffled and terrified expression.

"The chimera's gone insane! We're all going to die!" Lorelei yelled in mock panic.

Zelgadis didn't even respond to the little monster's jest at his irate mood. He just mumbled to himself angrily.

"Thick-headed... overprotective... that stupid little... honestly, I can't stand that attitude...and she won't even listen... AND I DON'T CARE!"

He yelled the last words and swung at the tree again. Zara, and Lorelei exchanged puzzled looks, and Zander was hiding behind them, trying to stay out of the chimera's sight.

"Well, whatever it is that you claim not to care about, you care enough to nearly kill that poor tree over there." Lorelei observed.

"Yeah, Zelgadis. Do you feel better now?" Zara asked.

Zelgadis scowled. "Calmer, yes. Better, no."

"Do you mind telling us about it?" The little boy wondered.

"I guess not..." Zelgadis' voice trailed off. "But what's the matter with Gourry?"

Gourry, who had not even noticed Zel's fight with the tree, looked up. "Huh? What?"

At Zara and Lorelei's request, the two explained the problems that they'd had with the personality-switched girls. Zara listened intently, nodding and looking in concern at his friends. Lorelei didn't even laugh, though she did think to herself that there were enough negative feelings to keep an entire horde of monsters satisfied.

"Anyway... I guess I'm just not used to having someone arguing back at me when I try to help them. It's aggravating, and the more I argue, the more she fights back." Zelgadis explained.

"And I'm not used to someone being so... overemotional." Gourry said. "Even if Lina is feeling something, she never actually says it. And she actually _likes_ it when I'm afraid of her. I guess it makes her feel powerful or something."

Zelgadis nodded. "I guess we're both so used to the way that they normally act, that we find it hard to work with them when they've changed so much."

"Yeah. But how do we get them back to normal?" Gourry asked.

"Hmm... I know this may sound crazy to you humans, but I think that the person who put the spell on Lina and Amelia was a monster." Lorelei said thoughtfully.

"How can you tell? You don't even know what they looked like, or anything." Gourry replied.

"That may be true, but I can see the effect of the spell. It switches their personalities _and_ exaggerates negative emotions- doesn't that sound wonderfully monsterish?" She smiled, then seemed to realise something. "Come to think of it, my father knows a spell that works in almost the same way. I haven't seen him around today or yesterday either... I wonder what he's been up to. Lord Beastmaster told us to... oh but that can't have anything to do with this situation, can it?"

Zelgadis stared at her angrily. "You can't possibly be suggesting that Xellos is the one behind this! What exactly did your master tell you two to do?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you what she ordered us to do. But I _do_ wonder about father..."

"But wait! If you know about the spell, then do you know how to fix it?" Gourry asked, jumping up.

"Not specifically, since I don't know who placed the spell. But I do know that it has something to do with positive emotions that Lina Inverse and the princess have to find for themselves. So, even knowing what is needed to break the spell is useless. Get it?" Lorelei explained.

"I see..." Zel murmured. "But what happens if they never find these positive emotions?"

"Then the spell stays in place. It won't go away on its own. Its persistent, just like a monster." Lorelei tapped her chest in pride.

"Yeah, persistent... that's a nice way of putting it..." Zelgadis mumbled, wondering what on earth was keeping him from strangling the little monster.

Suddenly there was a large explosion from somewhere off in the distance. Gourry was the first to turn toward the sound, and the others followed.

"Th-that was a Fireball! One of Lina's! I'm sure of it!" He exclaimed.

"Lina's?" Zelgadis questioned, remembering that Lina now had the personality of the pacifist princess. "If something is dangerous enough to provoke even Lina to fight, then it must be a serious problem. We've been so worried about all this stupid drama that we've forgotten to keep an eye on them to keep them out of trouble!"

Gourry nodded. "Personality or not, I'm Lina's protector, and I'll stand by her side no matter what!"

"Let's get going! It was a good distance away! Whatever, or whoever they're fighting could do some damage before we get there!" Zelgadis said, beginning to run off.

"Right behind you!" Gourry called.

Zander, Lorelei, and Zara watched as they ran. "Geez, what a pain." Zander commented. "I wonder why they go to all the trouble that they do for those girls. It seems like a nuisance to me..."

"Because they love them." Zara replied. Zander turned a surprised look at the little boy, who continued. "Gourry and Zelgadis love Lina and Amelia, even if they don't show it sometimes. And they'll do anything for them, no matter what happens. So now, even if Lina and Amelia are mad at them, they still want to protect them from danger."

Zander gasped, and turned a look at Lorelei. "I thought you were a monster. Doesn't all this talk of love hurt you?" Lorelei sipped a cup of tea thoughtfully. "Nah. As long as it's coming from Zara, it doesn't bother me at all."

Shuddering slightly at the girl who seemed so innocent, yet also seemed to have no fear or weakness, Zander backed away slightly. _Why can't I just go home?_

* * *

Tossing random attacks toward Ozzel wasn't doing the two girls much good. The doll could manipulate time around the objects to make them slow and all too easy to dodge. Lina was shooting powerful attacks, ranting something about Justice, while Amelia was doing the same thing, sending insults toward Ozzel, but they were uncoordinated, and this was a weakness. Ozzel pulled out three daggers, just as before, and held them up in a position ready to throw them. And suddenly, they were gone.

Lina and Amelia attempted to dodge Ozzel's daggers, but they were too swift. Amelia got a nasty cut across the right side of her face, and also on her left leg. Lina wasn't as lucky. She fell to her knees, clutching her arm. The dagger's aim had been true this time, but luckily for Lina, she happened to have her arm across her chest protectively, and it was her arm- not her heart- that had taken the blow.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia called, rushing to her friend's side, the effort painfully reminding her of the cut in her leg.

"Amelia... this isn't working..." Lina murmured with difficulty. "We... have to work together if we're going to defeat Ozzel."

"Right! But first we need to get you back in fighting condition! Look, Miss Lina, we just need to get the dagger out, and then I can cast a recovery spell!"

"But... what about Ozzel?" The sorceress asked, staring at the doll approaching them.

"I'll take care of that! ELMIKIA LANCE!" Amelia fired at a surprised Ozzel, sending the doll flying back a good distance, buying them some time.

"Now I've got time to work on you, Miss Lina! This is going to be pretty bad for a second, but you're going to have to bear with it, alright?"

Lina winced, but nodded.

Ozzel recovered quickly from the attack, and got back up, brushing herself off as if nothing had happened. Stepping forward, she pulled out another set of daggers, ready to strike again. But Lina was back on her feet, as if nothing had happened. The gash in her arm was still very visible, but it was not bleeding, and Lina had forgotten all about it.

"Hey, now I'm ready for you! And this time, we'll defend Justice to the best of our ability!" Lina exclaimed.

"Yeah! We're not going to be defeated so easily! We're a team!" Amelia agreed.

"A team, hmm? I see." Ozzel replied, a strange look in her eyes. It was almost as if she was remembering something, but the spark of reminiscence quickly died out. She made another attempt to throw the next set of daggers, but Amelia distracted her. "Hey! What are you looking at? I'm over here!" Ozzel turned her attention to the princess, and Lina struck her from behind with a powerful Fireball.

"Now! Amelia!" She called. "A combination attack!"

"Right!" Amelia called back.

"_ELMIKIA LANCE!" _The bright attack cut through the air, and created an enormous explosion that shook the ground, and sent the doll spiralling back in a forced retreat. She had been beaten- again.

Lina and Amelia glanced at each other and smiled. "We did it, Amelia!" Lina exclaimed. She held her hand up to high-five her friend.

"Yeah, Miss Lina! I guess all it took was a little teamwork!" Amelia agreed. But before she could reciprocate Lina's gesture, she suddenly became faint, and collapsed.

"A-Amelia?" Lina exclaimed. "Wh-what just..." Lina herself suddenly became dizzy, falling onto the ground.

* * *

"Those daggers! Ozzel was here!" Zelgadis exclaimed, seeing the weapons strewn about on the ground where Lina and Amelia were lying unconscious. He eyed a particularly red-stained one fearfully.

"Lina! LINA!" Gourry yelled, trying to wake her up. "Come on Lina!"

Zelgadis examined Amelia. He was much relieved to find that she was actually breathing. He was afraid that... Ozzel had been there and apparently left...

"Come on Lina! You've got to wake up! I don't care if you're a train wreck of a personality disorder, I just want you alive!" Gourry was yelling. His yells seemed to have an effect on the sorceress. She began to open her eyes.

"Huh... wha...?"

"Lina! You're awake!" Gourry exclaimed. He pulled her tighter. "I'm really sorry about earlier! That was all my fault! I'm just so glad you're okay now! I-"

_WHACK!_

"It would at least be courteous of you to inform me of what's going on before you shove yourself into my face and start ranting about something crazy, jellyfish-brain!" Lina shouted unhappily, clutching the slipper in one hand.

Gourry looked up in surprise. "L-Lina.. did you just hit me on the head with a slipper... on purpose?"

"No, idiot. I just felt like flailing this slipper around and your face just so happened to be right there. OF COURSE I DID IT ON PURPOSE!"

Gourry was overjoyed. "Lina! I'm so glad!" He yelled, practically tackling her in a hug. Lina was taken completely by surprise.

"H-hey! Get off me, jellyfish-brains! What the heck do you think you're doing? Let go, idiot! GOURRY!" Lina was yelling and attempting to hit him, but Gourry didn't care. For once, he was actually really glad that Lina was angry.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis asked hesitantly. She was just beginning to wake up as well.

"...Mister Zelgadis? What's going on? What is Miss Lina yelling about?" Amelia replied, looking around.

"You were... put under a spell." Zelgadis replied. "Are... are you alright?"

"A spell? I don't remember it, but I feel fine now." She blushed slightly. "Thank you, though, for worrying about me, Mister Zelgadis."

Zel sighed in relief at Amelia's response. He reached for her, but then stopped hesitantly.

"Mister Zelgadis, what's wrong?" Amelia asked.

"I... er..." He looked back at her, making sure that she really was the Amelia he remembered. "Amelia... can I hug you?"

Amelia was surprised at the bluntness of the question. "O-of course! I don't see why you would need to ask-"

"I'm just glad you're alright." Zelgadis replied, draping his arms around her. Amelia was too surprised to move, but she wasn't unhappy at all.

"Ow! Ow! Lina! Let go! I'm sorry!" Lina had grabbed Gourry by his hair and was dragging him back to where Amelia and Zelgadis were. The two stood up, Zel releasing Amelia from his grasp.

"So, you're back to normal, huh Lina?" Zelgadis asked.

"Back to normal? What are you guys talking about?" Lina asked, directing her question at both Gourry and Zel.

"Er... you were under a spell." Gourry replied. "Yesterday night and all today. Do you remember any of it?"

Lina shook her head. "Nope. Don't have a clue. What kind of spell was it?"

"Well... you just weren't... yourself." Gourry said.

Lina laughed. "Well, if I wasn't myself, then who was I?"

Gourry and Zelgadis both considered saying 'Amelia' for a minute, but decided against it. Lina would be appalled to find out that she had actually preached about love and Justice. Not to mention that Amelia would be heartbroken to learn some of the things that she had said to her friends, especially Zel.

"Um... never mind. It's pretty dark already. Do you want to get back to camp?" Gourry asked.

"That sounds good. Come on, Amelia." Lina smiled at her friend.

"Lead the way, Miss Lina!" Amelia responded happily.

* * *

When Lina and the others returned to their camp, Zara, Lorelei, and Zander could tell that they were back to their old selves. Zara ran up to them happily.

"Lina! You're back!" He called, hugging her tightly.

Lina ruffled the child's hair playfully, not quite grasping the allegory. "Be careful there. You'll break something if you hug me much tighter."

Zara smiled. It was the perfect answer from Lina.

"Hey, Lina! Guess what? Lorelei and I found some more cool bugs!" He exclaimed, letting go of the sorceress.

"Bugs?" Lina asked, puzzled.

"They've been collecting bugs all afternoon." Zander said, shuddering. "Spiders, and grasshoppers, and cicadas, and centipedes, and millipedes, and cockroaches..." His voice trailed off.

"Hah, those aren't so bad. You're just being a scaredy-cat." Lina scoffed.

"Lina! You have to see! We were looking for arthropods the whole time earlier, but Lorelei found something even better! Gastropods!" The ecstatic three-year-old said.

"What the heck is a gastropod?" Lina asked.

"Come see!" Zara replied, grabbing Lina's hand and dragging her with him. "Lorelei looked under this rock and found a whole bunch of them!"

Needless to say, one red-haired sorceress did not sleep well that night.

* * *

(A/N: Gastropods = slugs. Couldn't help putting that in there- boy I'd like to have seen Lina's face!)


	17. 17: Lost and Found! The hidden temple!

-GP3: Sorry for somewhat of a delay. I've been so very busy... *falls down and cries*

Lina: *whacks over the head* Get a grip, and just write the stupid story. It's finally getting to the good part! I'm finally going to get to blow stuff up!

GP3: Cruel much? Anyway, whatever... Next chapter! :3

* * *

**17- Lost and Found! The secret hidden temple!**

"Alright." Lina exclaimed. "We've finally made it to Sairaag. Now what?"

The rebuilt city of Sairaag was bustling with activity- a sure sign that Zaragio had not made an appearance yet. This was comforting news to the travellers. They looked around trying to figure out what they needed to do next.

"We're supposed to find that secret temple that Grandma Wren was talking about." Zander reminded them.

"I know that." Lina said. "But where exactly do we start looking? It's not like it's going to be easy to find or anything."

"Didn't Ms. Wren say that it would be hidden under the ruins of the destroyed city?" Amelia asked.

"That is correct."

Everyone turned to look at Zander. He had spoken so clearly and boldly, different from his normal, stuttering voice.

"Er... Grandma Wren says that it is. Remember, I can talk to her telepathically." Zander shuffled back a few steps.

Lina thought for a moment. "Hmm... if it's in the old city... then we'll need someone who is familiar with it. We need to find Sylphiel."

"Who is Sylphiel again?" Zander asked.

"She's one of Mister Gourry's old friends. She's also a shrine maiden." Amelia explained. "She would know the most about any hidden temples around here."

Zander nodded. "Alright then, where do we find her?"

"Come to think of it, I'm not even sure whether or not she's even in Sairaag." Lina replied. "Wasn't she in Seyruun the last time we met?"

"That's true, but she went back to Sairaag for a while just a few weeks before you guys came to visit." Amelia said. "Although, it has been over a month since I left Seyruun, so I have no idea where Miss Sylphiel might be. Perhaps Mister Gourry would have some idea as to where she is."

"Don't look at me!" Gourry responded. "You know more than I do!"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to search around and try to find her." Lina said, beginning to walk off.

"We're going to have to work fast." Zelgadis responded. "We have no idea how long it's going to take Zaragio to get here. He could attack any minute."

Amelia nodded. "And there's also Miss Ozzel to worry about."

Lina sighed. Why did everything have to be so hard? It's like there were always evil people plotting against them.

"Fine. Well, there's nothing we can do about it except find Sylphiel and the temple. Now let's move!" She said. Turning to Zara, she added "And remember to stay close. You never know who's going to attack, alright?"

Zara nodded. "I'll stay right here with you guys." He promised.

It was a promise that he was not able to keep.

* * *

Poor Zara always seemed to have the worst luck, getting separated from his friends. He tried to keep up with them- he really did. But three-and-a-half-year-olds have curious minds, and he found himself morbidly distracted. Before he knew it, he had lost track of the group that he was walking with.

This was bad.

He tried running in the direction that he remembered his friends going, but didn't find them, and realised that they must have taken a different turn. He tried to find his way back to where he had gotten lost, but couldn't find that place either, in the maze of people and buildings. He knew that crying wasn't going to help the situation, though it did make him feel better.

But luck, fate, or maybe a combination of both was on the little boy's side.

Out of all the people in the town that he could have bumped into, he ran into _her_. The purple haired shrine maiden was surprised to see her simple outing interrupted by bumping into a crying child. He hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going, and ran directly into her. He swiftly pulled himself back, and apologised profusely between sobs. Sylphiel's heart immediately went out to the poor little boy.

"M-my goodness! Why are you crying?" She asked, bending down to him with a concerned look. Seeing no immediate indication of a response, she continued. "Did you get separated from your mom?"

"Y-yeah I did..." Zara spluttered. "She told me it was dangerous, but I couldn't help it and got lost... and I tried to find her and I couldn't... the town is so big..."

"Oh, oh, don't cry. It's going to be alright." Sylphiel soothed. "I'll help you find your mother."

Zara looked at her with his big, tearful, jade eyes gleaming admiringly. "You will? Really? You're a really nice lady."

Sylphiel smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. You're a very nice little boy, and I'm sure your mother is a really nice lady too, isn't she?"

Zara shook his head. "Nah. Not really."

Sylphiel was surprised at the boy's response. He really seemed to want his mother right now, so why would he say something like this? Zara continued.

"She gets angry a lot, and yells at people, and blows stuff up, and hits people with blunt objects and not-so-blunt objects..."

Sylphiel was alarmed by this description. "Th-that sounds dreadful!" She gasped.

Zara was suddenly defensive. "No! It's not! I love her a whole lot, and she's always there when I need her! She protects me from bad monsters and bad people, and she teaches me all kinds of stuff that I never knew before! And she says funny things and even sings to me sometimes when she thinks no one else can hear! She's not dreadful at all!" Zara's eyes began to tear up again, as the recollections reminded him that he was lost.

A sweet smile spread across Sylphiel's face. Zara hadn't contradicted himself, just clarified. She realised that there must be more to this mother of his than just the violent part. Whoever it was sounded like a really nice person. "You do love her a whole lot. I can tell." Sylphiel commented.

"And I have to find her..." He sobbed. "...and everyone else too..."

Zara began to run off in another direction, not paying attention to Sylphiel in his panic. "W-wait!" She called, but he didn't stop running. Sylphiel followed Zara as fast as she could, trying to make sure that he didn't get separated from her. If he became lost by himself again, it could be very bad.

"There you are!"

Sylphiel heard a familiar voice yelling, and she could tell by Zara's expression that he recognised it too. "Lina!" He called, confirming Sylphiel's suspicions as to who the voice belonged to.

The sorceress ran up to the little boy, grabbing him tightly in her arms. "Come here, you! One of these days you're going to give some poor fool a freaking heart attack by running off like that, you know?" She hugged Zara tighter, and Sylphiel didn't want to intrude, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"M-Miss Lina?" She stammered.

Lina looked up. "Sylphiel!" She hadn't noticed the girl standing there in her relief that Zara was unharmed. Shifting Zara so that he was resting on her shoulder and she had a free arm, Lina approached her old friend.

"I suppose Zara getting lost wasn't all that bad, since he found you." Lina remarked.

"Zara?" Sylphiel inquired as to the name of the little boy. When Lina gave a nod of confirmation, she continued. "Is he yours?"

"It depends on what you mean by 'mine." Lina replied. "We're not related, but he technically belongs to me, and I'm taking care of him."

Zara hugged Lina tighter. "I'm so sorry I got lost! I just couldn't see where you went, and I tried to find you and got even more lost, and then I met Sylphiel, and we tried to find you again..." He started to sob again.

"Hey, hey! Quit it with the waterworks, alright? I told you it's okay, didn't I?" Lina said teasingly, and it seemed to calm down the boy.

Sylphiel couldn't help smiling, seeing somewhat of a change in Lina's character. Zara's stories about violent people who were also kind and gentle suddenly made a lot more sense.

"Miss Lina, might I ask what you are doing here? Where are the rest of your friends? And Gourry?"

Lina didn't even ask why Sylphiel put Gourry separately from the rest of her friends. She just shrugged. "Probably off somewhere looking for Zara. I guess I need to find them and tell them that I have him _and_ Sylphiel. Come on, kid."

The last phrase was directed toward Zara, but it was kind of pointless. Lina didn't put Zara down, and the boy made no attempt to leave the sorceress' grip. Sylphiel followed the two, her mind beginning to wonder just how Lina had ended up being an adoptive mother. It didn't seem like the thing that she would willingly do, and there had to be some sort of reason behind it. Maybe Gourry...

"Yo! Amelia! Zel! Over here!" Lina was waving to a pair of her friends.

"Miss Lina! Zara-chan! Oh, and Miss Sylphiel too!" Amelia exclaimed, taking Zelgadis' hand and dragging him over to where Lina and Zara were.

"So you found him finally." Zelgadis observed.

"Yep. And you can see who he found." Lina said, gesturing toward Sylphiel with her free hand.

"Were you all looking for me?" Sylphiel asked. "What's going on? Why are you all together? Is something wrong?"

"We'll tell you about it when we find Mister Gourry and Mister Zander." Amelia replied. "But we'll explain everything, don't worry."

"So where did those two run off to anyway?" Lina asked, looking around.

"Oh! Lina! Zara!"

A familiar voice answered Lina's question. Lina turned around. "What took you so long, jellyfish-brain?" She asked.

"Gourry!" Zara called, stretching his arms out. Even with Lina holding the child, the tall swordsman still had to bend down a good distance to hug him. Sylphiel could tell what the child thought of Gourry, and she watched the small family wistfully. Lina was certainly lucky.

But they were not the only ones on her mind. Sylphiel turned to see the brown-haired young man that had been following Gourry. She wasn't sure why, but he seemed to grab her attention.

"Sylphiel!" Gourry turned to his old friend. He had a hug for Sylphiel as well.

"Good to see you again, Sir Gourry!" She smiled. "And this is..." She stared at Zander for a moment.

"Uh... um..." Zander couldn't seem to figure out what he was supposed to say. "Er... what was the question again?"

"You're Mister... Zander, was it?" Sylphiel asked, turning to Amelia.

"That's right." Amelia nodded.

"That's right!" Zander replied, a few seconds too late.

"But what brings all of you to Sairaag?" Sylphiel asked again.

"Um..." Lina began. "It's kind of a long story..."

"Would you like to talk about it over dinner?" Sylphiel asked.

"Did you say dinner?" Lina asked, her eyes gleaming.

"You can count me in!" Gourry added.

"I suppose it would be better to discuss the situation somewhere where there aren't as many people." Zelgadis nodded.

Sylphiel looked worried. "Situation? What situation?"

"Let's get some dinner. Then we'll talk about it." Lina replied.

Sylphiel sighed. Lina and her friends really hadn't changed all that much...

* * *

"There is a monster that is aiming to attack Sairaag." Lina was explaining while she ate dinner.

"A-a monster?" Sylphiel exclaimed, shocked.

"That's right. A monster by the name of Zaragio. Have you ever heard of him?" Amelia asked.

"Zaragio..." Sylphiel repeated the name slowly. "The name sounds familiar, as if I'd heard it before... but I can't place it..."

"If you can't remember, don't worry about it. Happens to me all the time." Gourry said, trying to lighten the mood of the conversation.

"B-but what does he want with Sairaag?" Sylphiel asked again.

"We hear that there is a secret temple hidden under the ruins of the destroyed city." Zelgadis explained. "Inside the temple there is supposed to be a magical amplifier that Zaragio seeks to use in order to get revenge on the human race."

"Revenge?" Sylphiel was stunned. Most monsters saw humans as nothing more than pests. What did humans do to this monster that was so bad that he sought revenge for it?

"It's a very long story." Lina replied.

"About what?" It was apparent that Sylphiel wanted to hear the entire story.

"Well, you see," Lina began, attempting to condense the account. "Zaragio apparently fell in love with a human named Veridia. But the villagers that lived nearby were scared of them, and decided to kill Veridia and... I'm sorry, did I mention that they had a son? Well, they did, and the villagers attempted to kill Veridia and the child."

"Oh my!" Sylphiel exclaimed. "How terrible! Did they succeed?"

"Veridia died. The child didn't..." Lina's voice trailed off. "Anyway, Zaragio wanted revenge on the humans for killing Veridia. So he decided to use the magic that the child possessed to create his revenge. There was a bit of a problem, though."

"Problem? Is that where Sairaag and the temple come in?" Sylphiel asked.

"Yes. You see, the boy has a lot of power, but it is limited for the time being, until he learns to use it effectively. This is meant to be a lengthy progression. But Zaragio wants to draw all of the boy's power at once, using the magical amplifier in the temple. In the process, this would cause the boy to be... basically destroyed." Lina said, cringing with the last two words.

"No..." Sylphiel gasped. "Th-that's horrible."

Lina nodded. "And so Zaragio is attempting to kidnap the child and use him for revenge. Obviously, we can't let this happen. The effect would be disastrous."

"Certainly!" Sylphiel exclaimed. "I had no idea that this sort of thing was going on! But wait, did you say that Zaragio was trying to kidnap his son? Does that mean that the boy is not with his father?"

"Well, he's not with _Zaragio_." Lina replied. "You see, that monster is clinically insane. This kid needs to be with a family that's not trying to use him as a living weapon of mass destruction."

"So he's with an adoptive family now?" Sylphiel asked. She was beginning to get a sneaking suspicion...

"Yep." Lina said. "Rather than having a dad that's trying to get you killed, it's much better to have one that's... what the heck are you two doing?"

"Huh? You mean this?" Gourry turned around. He and Zara had been playing with the cloth napkins. "Look! It's napkin origami! See? I made a crane!"

Gourry's 'crane' looked a lot more like just a crumpled napkin, and Zara's didn't look much better.

"Have you guys been paying attention to this conversation at all?" Lina asked, beginning to get angry.

"Well... it's all stuff we know already..." Gourry murmured.

"I've heard this story before..." Zara said.

_WHACK! WHACK!_

Lina gave them both a good strike over the head. "You guys seriously need to focus- especially you, kid! Your life, and more importantly the human race as we know it are both at stake here!"

"S-sorry Lina..." They both apologised.

Lina sighed, smiling again. "At least you're not trying to get him killed, jellyfish-brain. I guess that's all that really matters."

Sylphiel gasped, watching the commotion. "Miss Lina, do you mean that Zara is..."

"Yep. He's half monster." Lina replied nonchalantly.

"N-NO WAY!" Sylphiel looked like she might faint. "Impossible..."

"As impossible as we all thought it was, there is the proof. Zara's powers are undeniable." Zelgadis said, looking at the little boy.

"And since he doesn't have access to all his powers yet, we have no way of knowing how powerful he really is." Lina agreed. "Who knows? He might just turn out to be almost as powerful as I am." She grinned. "Right Zara?"

Zara jumped up in his chair. "I want to be just like Lina!" He exclaimed happily.

"That's so sweet. He's really taken a liking to you, Miss Lina." Sylphiel said.

"I know. It bugged me at first... but I guess since I'm kind of stuck with him now..." Lina's voice trailed off. She didn't really want to admit how deep her affections for the little boy had become.

"Getting to the point-" Zelgadis interrupted. "We need to find this temple that we've heard so much about. Do you think that you could help us out in this respect?"

Sylphiel nodded. "I think I've just remembered where I knew Zaragio's name from."

"Really? Way to go!" Gourry congratulated her.

"It was something having to do with that old temple. I think I know where it is. I can take you there." She replied.

"Fine then. Now that we're done with dinner, you can lead us to this temple." Lina said with a mischievous smile.

* * *

The group walked through the ruins of the destroyed city. It was a dark, moonless night, and there were no clouds in the sky- save the condensed breath of the travellers in the frigid night air. They followed Sylphiel who lit the path with a light in her hand, probing the ground for any signs of the entrance to the old, underground temple.

"Here." She breathed, stopping. Lina and her friends crowded around the shrine maiden curiously. She had stopped over a piece of seemingly solid ground. "I can sense strong magical energy flowing from this point." Sylphiel explained.

"So..." Amelia began.

"I believe that we're right over the entrance to the temple." Sylphiel finished.

"So how do we get to it? Do we just bust in using out magic?" Lina asked.

"That's the only way that I can imagine getting there." Sylphiel answered.

"Alright then. Everyone, stand back." Lina warned. "One supersized Fireball, coming right up!"

Lina created a massive attack and shot it at the ground where Sylphiel had felt the magical energy. Sure enough, there was a large explosion, and a large portion of ground gave way to the space underneath it, exposing a hidden, underground tunnel. Lina leaped down into the hole.

"H-hey! Wait for us!" Gourry yelled, scrambling down after her. Zara followed quickly behind.

"Do you really think this is such a good idea, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked nervously, clutching at his cape.

"Well, there's no real way of knowing. But if we can get some information on how to defeat Zaragio... then..." The chimera's voice trailed off.

"I guess we should follow them, huh?" Amelia replied.

"Are you scared?"

"O-of course not, Mister Zelgadis! A heroine of Justice is never scared by such simple things as this!" Amelia stammered, trying not to let her apprehension show.

"Don't worry." Zel reassured her. "You'll be safe. Let's get caught up before Lina gets angry at us for getting stuck behind."

Sylphiel and Zander watched them go. Zander looked shamefacedly at Sylphiel. "To tell the truth... I'm actually scared stiff of this place right now..."

Sylphiel nodded. "They say that only fools have no fear." She answered.

Zander looked up at Sylphiel incredulously. Any other girl in the world would have said that he was being a coward. They would have teased him about his paranoia. What made Sylphiel so different?

"I... I..." He stammered, hoping that it wasn't too obvious that he was blushing. "I guess we should follow them too."

"Right!" Sylphiel nodded, and made her way into the cavernous passageway, Zander following close behind.

* * *

"Wow. This place is really big!" Zara's hushed voice echoed off the walls of the enormous chamber, buried deep underground.

"No kidding." Amelia replied.

After making their way down a long, dark, stone-paved hallway, they had finally come to a large, octagonal room. It appeared to have been lavishly decorated at one time, but now was worn with age. The most noticeable decoration of the interior chamber was not on the walls or ceiling, but underneath their feet. The floor had bold, intricate designs, that appeared worn, but still very recognisable.

"A... an octagram?" Amelia stuttered, looking at the star-shaped design made up of two interlocking squares.

Lina examined the design on the floor of the temple. Stretching to the corners of the octagonal room was a large octagram. In the interior octagon formed by the two squares, there was a shallow, circular depression that looked as if it had once been a reflection pool, but the water had since dried up. There were also lines surrounding it. Lina bent down and ran her finger over the lines. "Trigrams..." She murmured.

"Try-what?" Gourry asked.

"Trigrams, you idiot." Lina replied. "That's what these lines are."

"What are trigrams, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked.

"I studied them when I was at a magic academy." Lina replied. "Trigrams were part of an ancient divination system, based on the idea of yin and yang."

"Yin and yang? Those signify balance and harmony, correct?" Zelgadis asked.

"Right. Each trigram is made up of three lines, either an unbroken line- yang- or a broken line- yin. There are eight possible configurations, so eight trigrams. Each one represents a different element."

"So, if they represent elements, what are they used for?" Sylphiel asked.

Lina looked at the floor again. "Well, judging by the configuration of the floor, I'd say that this forms a large bagua."

"Bagua? What's that?" Gourry wanted to know.

"Bagua refers to this setup of the trigrams- it literally means 'eight symbols.' Each trigram is placed around the octagon in a certain configuration. This can determine a path for chi to flow, making bagua commonly used in feng shui. But it can also create a channel for the chi, or magical energy. Obviously, the objective is to create balance." Lina explained.

"But if it's creating balance, how does it amplify magical power?" Amelia asked.

"That's the thing. If the bagua is correctly balanced, one element would be equal to another. None would be amplified. But this is not an accurate bagua. Take a look. Notice anything?" Lina motioned for her friends to examine the intricate patterns on the floor.

"The trigrams..." Sylphiel murmured. "...they're all the same!"

"Bingo." Lina grinned. She bent down to point out the trigram that was repeated eight times, one on each side of the octagon. "See this?" She pointed. "One unbroken line- yang, followed by a broken line- yin, followed by another yang."

"But what does it mean?" Zander asked cautiously.

"This is the Li trigram- the one that signifies fire." Lina replied.

Amelia gasped. "Fire? B-but... Zaragio..."

"Zaragio controls fire." Zelgadis finished for the princess.

"So this particular arrangement of the bagua would amplify power that had to do with fire, correct?" Sylphiel asked.

"Right again." Lina nodded.

"I'll bet that this temple was created for, or even_ by_, Zaragio himself." Zel said. "After all, it amplifies the power of fire. He probably made it so that he could get even stronger..."

"And this is most likely the spot where he wanted to uncover Zara's powers as well." Lina nodded. "So we'll have to be careful around here."

Sylphiel looked around a final time. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything that we can do tonight, so do you think that we should go back to the royal palace and come back tomorrow to do more investigating?"

"I guess that would be okay." Lina replied. All of a sudden, she felt a suspicious presence. She didn't have time to look around and investigate before-

"LINA!"

_Swish!_

_KRAK!_

_Klink!_

Lina blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what had just happened in the last split-second. She had felt a strange presence, and suddenly Gourry had grabbed her and shoved her aside, pulling his sword out defensively. His sword had been not a moment too soon to deflect a projectile that had been aimed at Lina. She gasped.

"Lina, are you alright?" Gourry asked, his arm still around her.

"I-I think so." She answered, still somewhat baffled. "What was that?"

The pair looked down at the object that Gourry had deflected. Lying on the decorated floor was a dagger.

Ozzel's dagger.

"Impressive perception and reflexes, I must admit. Time was sped up around the dagger, but you sensed the magic needed to intensify speed, and were able to deflect it easily." The doll removed herself from her hiding place in the shadows. "You really are a proficient swordsman. It is a shame that master wishes you dead. But orders are orders."

"Ozzel! How long have you been there?" Lina yelled.

"Long enough to think that I could catch you off-guard. But your protector is quite diligent, I'm afraid." Ozzel answered.

"And just what makes you think that you can win this time, considering how easy you've been to defeat in the past?" Lina growled.

"My magical powers come from Master Zaragio. This chamber amplifies his magic. Obviously, I'm more powerful here than anywhere else." Ozzel explained. "Which means that there is no escape this time, Lina Inverse.

It is the beginning of the end."


	18. 18: Attack! Underground battle!

-I honestly had a hard time with this chapter. Action scenes are like black holes in writing! It's kind of short based on word count, but a lot happens. Enjoy! Most was written while listening to video game (Touhou Project) songs, namely 'Himorogi, Burn in Violet,' 'Magus Night,' 'Captain Murasa,' and 'Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind.' So that sets the mood for the chapter, basically. :3-

* * *

**18- Attack! Underground battle!**

"A-an assassin?" Sylphiel gasped, as Lina tried to quickly explain their situation with Ozzel.

"Yeah. She's been sent by Zaragio to kill me- er _us_." Lina was saying. "She's not incredibly powerful, but she can manipulate time around inanimate object such as weapons or spells, making her very dangerous."

"So what can we do? How are we supposed to defeat her?" Sylphiel wanted to know.

"We just have to work together I suppose. We _do_ outnumber her, after all." Lina strategized. She knew that they'd need a good strategy, as Ozzel had the upper hand in this space.

"_Levitation!" _Lina chanted the spell and flew up. "You guys fight Ozzel, I'll cover you from the air!"

"Right!" Amelia nodded. "She can slow down normal spells, but she can't slow down a person! _VISFAN RANK!_" The princess shot toward Ozzel, her glowing fist ready to strike. But the reflexes of the doll, revived by the powers of the fire monster, were heightened in the space. Ozzel shot away from where she was standing and appeared behind Amelia, suddenly creating an enormous Fireball that shot out and blasted the girl into the stone wall with the combined forces of both attacks. Amelia screamed as she made painful contact with the wall, knocking a large amount of bricks off, which fell around her.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis yelled. He turned angrily to Ozzel. "_ASTRAL VINE!" _He chanted while pulling his sword. It took on the familiar red glow. Chasing Ozzel, he called out to Sylphiel. "Sylphiel! Help Amelia!"

The shrine maiden was already halfway to where the princess was lying, injured and barely able to move. "I suppose my healing magic will come in handy in this battle." Sylphiel observed.

"Um... Miss Sylphiel... I'm not all that good at it, but... my great-grandmother taught me some healing magic as well. If you need any help... I could..." Zander stammered, trying to make himself useful rather than just cowering in fear. "My offensive magic is of little or no use, I'm afraid..."

Sylphiel nodded to him. "It would be very helpful of you to assist me. I thank you."

As Amelia was slowly returning to health, Zelgadis and Gourry were fighting Ozzel with their swords. Ozzel was adept at dodging the strikes, and could fire attacks with increased speed, attempting to catch the swordsmen off guard. But Gourry and Zelgadis had quick reflexes, and could use their swords to block or destroy most of the attacks sent towards them. Lina watched from the air, trying to figure out the best way to gain the upper hand in the battle.

_Ozzel's not an idiot. _She thought to herself. _She's directing most of her magical attacks at Zel, while the physical attacks, such as the daggers, she's aiming at Gourry- since she knows that they'll be of no use to her against Zel's tough skin. I wonder if I could catch her off guard, though..._

Gourry struck at Ozzel once more, and this time she was more than ready. She shot a powerful blast of magical energy back at the swordsman. He didn't have time to dodge or deflect the blow, and was thrust backwards with great force.

"Gourry!" Lina yelled, seeing her protector hit.

To Lina's relief, Sylphiel was by his side in a split second. "Gourry dear, are you alright?"

"Don't... worry about me..." He replied painfully, but Sylphiel began working her healing magic anyway. It was obvious that he needed it.

"Hey!" Zelgadis yelled, attacking with his magically strengthened sword. Ozzel was ready for him too. She shot another powerful attack toward him, but unlike the one that hit Gourry, this one was intercepted.

"_ELMIKIA LANCE!" _

"Amelia!" Zelgadis gasped, seeing the princess back on her feet, and protecting him no less.

"Did you miss me?" She asked, winking.

Zelgadis smiled, and stood by the princess' side. He nodded toward Ozzel, who was watching them warily.

"Your strategy is impressive. I will give you that." Ozzel replied.

"Miss Ozzel, I know that, deep down, you're not evil at all! Why are you doing this?" Amelia yelled.

"My master ordered it. And I have absolute loyalty to whomever my master is. I have no reason to refuse him.

"You know full well that evildoers will be punished for their actions!" Amelia called, striking a Justice-pose. Ozzel took the opportunity to throw a powerful Fireball attack at the princess.

"AMELIA!" Zelgadis yelled, grabbing her and jumping just out of the way of the attack. "Are you alright?"

Amelia looked up. "Yes, thank you, Mister Zelgadis." She thought she could feel the chimera's grip grow just a bit tighter around her.

"You two just leave this to me!" Lina called. "_DAMU BRASS!"_

The bright attack moved swiftly toward the doll, but she dodged it with the same agility that had become very apparent in the battle.

"Dang it, how can she dodge all these attacks?" Lina wondered, clenching her teeth.

Ozzel pulled out another three daggers and aimed them at Lina. There was no time to dodge, and Ozzel's accuracy was spot on. But unfortunately for the doll, Lina had a protector.

_KLINK! KLINK! KLINK!_

Lina opened her eyes to see the daggers fall to the ground in succession after being deflected off Gourry's sword.

"Gourry!" She exclaimed.

"I won't let you hurt Lina, no matter what happens!" Gourry yelled to Ozzel. She stared back at him with her impassive expression. Drawing out another pair of daggers, she aimed them at the pair.

"How many of those stupid things does she have? You think she'd run out sooner or later!" Lina exclaimed, somewhat annoyed.

Ozzel's daggers shot forward with a burst of speed, and Gourry managed to deflect one, while the other scraped past Lina's arm.

"Alright, that does it!" Lina yelled. She put her hands out in front of her and began to chant a spell. "_Darkness beyond twilight... crimson beyond blood that flows..."_

"M-Miss Lina! Wait!" Sylphiel's voice stopped Lina mid-Dragon Slave. "You need to be careful what kinds of spells you use! Remember, we're in an underground temple, and you have no idea how the magical amplifier will react to you using spells like that! It's too dangerous, especially for Zara!"

Lina glanced at the little boy, who was standing nervously with Amelia and Zelgadis. She didn't want anything to happen to him, and for once she actually decided that it was too risky to try a spell that powerful in such a space. In any other circumstances, Lina wouldn't have cared, but she felt protective of Zara, and anything that could trigger disastrous results needed to be avoided as much as possible.

"Fine then. We'll try something else. _FREEZE ARROW!" _Lina Shot a barrage of ice flying at the doll. Ozzel jumped out of the way. "Not so fast!" Lina yelled, changing her aim, following Ozzel through the air. Finally, the ice shards hit their mark, and Ozzel fell back to the floor, somewhat disoriented.

"Here's our chance! FIREBALL!" Lina yelled, throwing another attack at the doll.

"Right, Miss Lina! ELMIKIA LANCE!" Amelia called, joining the attack.

"FREEZE ARROW!" Zelgadis called.

There was a large explosion. Lina couldn't see Ozzel's state through the smoke, but there was silence coming from the place that had just been their target. Had they finally succeeded? Zara ran up to Lina, hugging her in apprehension. Lina put her arm around the little boy, trying to see whether their attacks had gone as planned.

The smoke began to clear in the spacious room, and behind it, they could just make out a figure. Ozzel was still standing, behind a thick barrier of red magical energy. She did not appear to have been affected at all by the attacks.

"N-no way! She's still standing!" Amelia gasped.

"And it looks like none of the attacks even fazed her." Zelgadis added angrily.

"Great. Now what?" Lina murmured as the shield separating them from the doll dissipated.

Ozzel opened her arms and thrust out two pairs of sharp daggers. Instead of flying, they hung suspended in the air around her, glowing with red magic and...

"Th-the daggers..." Sylphiel gasped. "...they're on FIRE!"

With a swift movement of her arms, Ozzel sent the burning daggers flying toward Lina and her friends. Lina twisted and jumped in attempts to keep the daggers from hitting her, but instead of falling, they turned and continued to pursue their targets.

"She's enchanted the daggers! They won't stop until they destroy their targets!" Zelgadis observed.

"Or until they're destroyed themselves!" Gourry added, hitting a few away with his sword.

Ozzel said nothing, staring at the struggling group of people fighting her enchanted daggers. Zara looked and noticed that her eyes had taken on a red glow.

"Lina! Something's wrong with Ozzel!" He yelled.

"What?" Lina asked, staring back at the doll. Sure enough, Ozzel was not acting the way she had before.

"I think that Zaragio has finally overtaken her consciousness." Zelgadis said.

"What does that mean?" Amelia asked fearfully, still trying to dodge the flaming daggers that were plaguing the group.

"He was manipulating her somewhat before. Remember?" Lina pointed out. "Ozzel was loyal to a fault. She didn't even seem to remember all that we went through with the Hellmaster's jar. That can only mean that Zaragio was doing something to her."

"And so now she's finally gone insane?" Gourry asked.

" Looks like it. Or, to be more specific, she's not in control of her actions anymore. She's just blindly following orders." Zelgadis replied.

"Kind of like what happened to Miss Lorelei?" Amelia asked.

"Yes. But this is not a curse. It's simply a manipulation of consciousness. Zaragio can do this because Ozzel _allows_ him to. He is, after all, her master." Zel said.

"Well, I'm sick of this. I'm prepared to take this annoying doll out here and now!" Lina replied. "FLARE ARROW!"

Lina stepped back and watched the flaming magical arrows fly toward their target. Ozzel levitated effortlessly around the arrows. Creating a Flare Arrow of her own, she shot toward Lina. Lina was propelled backwards by the force of the opposing attack.

The sorceress felt her back against a wall, but was far from cornered. Ozzel shot several of the burning daggers toward Lina, which she barely managed to dodge.

"_DUG HAUT_!" Lina yelled, sending a spire of earth up from the floor toward Ozzel. The doll was taken somewhat by surprise, but still managed to dodge.

_I feel like I'm fighting Lorelei. _Lina thought to herself. _We're both shooting attacks back and forth, but neither one of us is getting anywhere. I just need to remember how I defeated Lorelei before..._

Lina remembered her duel with Lorelei. _Her weapon... I took control of her weapon! That's it!_

With her new idea in mind, Lina quickly created another attack. "FLARE ARROW!" She called again. This time she did not aim the arrows at Ozzel, but rather, at the daggers that her friends were still attempting to fend off. If Lina's flames could overtake Ozzel's, then she would have complete control of the daggers, and Lina's Flare Arrows were sufficiently strong enough.

"Look! Miss Lina is controlling the daggers now!" Amelia exclaimed.

"My, how the tables have turned." Lina responded, looking at Ozzel, who still gave no response. Lina thrust the flaming daggers toward the doll and...

_SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!_

Ozzel was not afraid of bodily harm. She had once grabbed Gourry's sword in an attempt to block it. She could easily catch the daggers.

Lina stood still. She made no attempt to do anything. It looked as if her attack had failed.

"It seems that I was not harmed in the manner that you had expected." Ozzel said, her red eyes now staring at Lina.

"Sh-she caught them! Now what?" Zander exclaimed.

"Don't be so fast to make assumptions." Gourry warned.

Lina grinned at the swordsman who saw through her ploy.

"Hey, he's right. I know that crazy people aren't supposed to know the difference between chalk and cheese, but I think you should at least be able to count as well as Jellyfish-brain over there." Lina chided. "How many daggers did you throw again? And how many did you catch?"

Without giving Ozzel time to respond, Lina created a massive Flare Arrow, and thrust the fourth and final dagger toward the doll. Ozzel was hit in an explosion of fire. Lina grinned, seeing her plan working perfectly.

"Miss Lina, that was brilliant!" Sylphiel exclaimed.

"A bit childish if you ask me." Zelgadis observed. "But it worked, nonetheless."

"Now to finish this once and for all. I know you warned me, Sylphiel, but there's no choice at this point. We have to make sure that Ozzel isn't going to create another attack." Lina stated. "Gourry! Keep Zara out of the way!"

Gourry nodded, grabbing the little child as Lina began her incantation.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."_

As Lina chanted the spell, the walls around them began to shake. Loose bricks fell from the ceiling, and some of the supporting columns began to crack.

"_buried in the stream of time is where your power grows..."_

"M-Miss Lina-" Sylphiel stammered, seeing the tremors around them growing.

"_I pledge myself to conquer all the foes that stand..._

_...before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy-"_

"Lina! This place is going to collapse!" Zelgadis yelled, snapping Lina out of her incantation.

"Aww, come on! Can't I at least use the Dragon Slave_ once_?" Lina complained, seeing that her companions had been correct.

"This interior chamber should be stable, but the passageway is collapsing fast!" Sylphiel observed.

"It's probably because of all the magic that was used here. It's creating an imbalance- especially with that magical amplifier in the floor. This place wasn't very stable to begin with, and now we've made it worse." Zelgadis said.

"We've got to get out or we're going to be trapped down here!" Zander cried.

"Then let's get out!" Gourry said, already running to escape, picking up Lina with one arm as he ran.

"H-hey! Put me down! I can run too!" Lina was struggling to get out of his grip.

"What about Miss Ozzel?" Amelia asked, running to where the doll lay unconscious in the corner.

"You can't worry about her right now! We've got to get out of here!" Zelgadis replied, grabbing Amelia by the arm.

"No!" Amelia stopped, pulling Zelgadis to a halt alongside her. "It's unjust to leave someone behind in this situation, no matter what!"

"A-Amelia!" He called as she wrenched herself from his grasp and ran over to the place where Ozzel lay.

"Zel! We've got to get out of here!" Zander called, grasping the chimera and pulling him toward the exit.

Lina was the first person running down the collapsing hallway, with Zara in her arms. Gourry followed closely behind.

"Hey, wait for me!" He called. "I'm trying my best to avoid getting hit in the head with these bricks!"

"Why? It's not like it'll do any damage that hasn't already been done, jellyfish-brain." Lina pointed out teasingly.

Reaching the large hole where they had originally busted in, Lina managed to get out safely, along with Zara and Gourry. The ground was still shaking and the structure looked as if it would collapse at any moment, but Sylphiel, Zander, and Zelgadis were following and were able to make it out easily before the entrance to the subterranean structure finally collapsed.

"I-is everyone alright?" Sylphiel asked when the dust and noise ultimately subsided.

"I'm fine, and so are Zara and Gourry." Lina said, glancing at her companions.

"I'm fine." Zander replied.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis called, running back up to the pile of rubble where the entrance to the passageway used to be. "Amelia, are you there? Are you trapped? Say something!"

"Amelia didn't make it out?" Gourry asked, concerned.

"She was trying to help Ozzel!" Zelgadis replied. "She said that it would be unjust to leave her!"

"That sounds so much like Amelia..." Lina groaned.

"But what can we do? If she's trapped down there-" Sylphiel was suddenly cut off by an enormous explosion that blasted the passageway open again. Lina and her friends took a step backwards.

"W-we did it! We managed to get out! I told you that Justice would always prevail in the end, Miss Ozzel!"

Amelia had made it out of the underground structure, supporting an unconscious Ozzel on her shoulder. "Amelia! Ozzel!" Lina yelled, running up to her small friend.

"I managed to get Miss Ozzel out of there, Miss Lina. Even after what happened, I know that she has a good heart, and it would have been unjust to leave her there by herself." Amelia said with a smile.

"Dang it, Amelia! We were worried about you getting _yourself_ out of there!" Lina replied angrily. "Don't you think it was kind of unjust to make us worry like that?"

"I... I'm sorry Miss Lina... I just..."

Zander and Sylphiel walked up to Amelia, helping her support the weight of the lifeless doll. "Is she alright?" The boy asked.

"After what Miss Lina put her through, I'm not sure." Sylphiel replied. "We can take her back to the palace and see if her condition improves."

"Keep her heavily guarded." Lina added. "You don't want Zaragio trying any more funny business, right?"

Sylphiel nodded. "Right."

* * *

Breakfast was late the next morning. It was already quite late at night when the travellers returned from their escapade, and though they were tired, and the beds were comfortable, they all had trouble falling asleep. By the time they all did finally get some rest, it was already nearly morning, and they didn't want to wake up so early. At least they were lucky enough to have the luxury of sleeping in.

The day felt long and short at the same time. There was so much to do, and yet there was nothing they really could do. They strategized, trying to figure out how they were going to face Zaragio, but since no one really knew what he was planning to do, they couldn't get very far with battle plans. They didn't even know where or when he would attack first. Lina was confident that he would try to kill her first, before going after Zara, but others were not as sure. Just to be safe, Lina kept a close eye on the three-year-old all day.

Even after dinner, they were still unsure of what to do.

"I wish that stupid monster would quit making us wait. I just want to get this stupid fight over with." Lina mumbled. No one really responded, though she knew that they were all thinking the same thing.

Zara was feeling weakened and restless from all the negative energy, and was thinking wistfully of the palace's courtyard. "I'm going to go for a walk." He said.

This statement elicited an immediate "I'm going with you!" from both Lina and Gourry, who looked at each other in surprise at their identical reactions.

Zara didn't care who went with him, and he always felt safer with Lina and Gourry by his side. The three of them went outside, while their friends watched them go.

"Overprotective parents much?" Zander commented.

"You're one to talk." Zelgadis scoffed, remembering Zander's paranoia and numerous phobias.

"Well, Zara-chan's life is in danger. It's obvious that they would want to protect him. They love him, don't they?" Amelia said.

"Let's just hope that they won't have to do too much protecting..." Zelgadis murmured.

* * *

As the three people walked about the courtyard, the only one who spoke was the tall swordsman. Gourry attempted unsuccessfully to make small talk to lighten the mood. He made random comments about flowers that he didn't remember the names of, and trees that he didn't know all that much about. After making a particularly unintelligent comment about a geranium, Lina whacked him over the head.

"Would you quit trying to bore us to death, idiot?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Lina. You guys just seemed so upset..." He seemed to suddenly get an idea. "You don't think the gardener would mind if I..." Gourry plucked one of the colourful flowers, and placed it in Lina's hair before she could protest. He turned her around to face Zara. "What do you think? Does she look pretty like that?"

"Lina always looks pretty." Zara smiled.

Lina blushed, trying not to make eye contact with either Zara or Gourry. "Of course I'm always pretty. I'm _Lina Inverse_ for pete's sake."

Gourry chuckled, hearing Lina's obvious response. Zara joined him, and the two were laughing before they knew it.

"H-hey! Quit laughing!" Lina tried to stop the two from laughing as much as they were, but she soon found herself giggling as well. The laughter of people that she cared about was incredibly contagious, and she couldn't help it. Feeling better, she picked up Zara and twirled him around, still laughing, while he grabbed for the flower in her hair.

The sound of footsteps behind them broke her reverie, and whoever it was cleared their throat in an attempt to gain their attention. Lina silently cursed Zel, or Sylphiel, or Amelia, or Zander, or _whoever _was interrupting their moment. She had finally calmed down and was actually enjoying herself.

"What do you wa-" She asked, turning around and was suddenly cut off in shock. Her arms instinctively clutched the little boy tighter. Gourry's sword was drawn quickly, and held out defensively.

"Zara." Zaragio addressed the boy with a malicious smiled, his green eyes flashing. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

* * *

(A/N: Antagonist tiiiime! Stupid people always interrupting Lina and Gourry/Zara moments! He'd better get a good beating by the end... oh wait, I'm the author. I guess it's up to me, then. Heheh. People who interfere with the Justice of True Love will have painful retribution brought down upon them. Or so says Amelia. :3)


	19. 19:Attack Again! Zaragio's plan revealed

-Fast updates! This chapter was actually much easier to write than the last one. Maybe because it relies almost as much on dialogue as it does on action. I also have a feeling that some of you are going to be hating me when the chapter ends... oh well! Zaragio is really evil!-

* * *

**19- Attack Again! Zaragio's plan revealed!**

Zara clutched Lina tightly at the sight of the monster.

"Y-you're that monster from before..." He murmured fearfully.

"That I am. I'm surprised that you don't remember me, but I can most likely blame it on my careless subordinates. They were supposed to only erase your memory of your human companions, but it looks as if they did much more than that. Pity that you now don't remember _me_ either." Zaragio stepped toward the group of people, and Lina stepped back defensively. "I was quite upset when I found out that you had been taken by another group of annoying humans. Though, I suppose that, based on her reputation, the infamous Lina Inverse would not consider it bad to steal something that has already been stolen once. Isn't that right?"

Lina clenched her teeth. "Don't you _dare_," she growled. "talk about Zara as if he's some sort of _thing_ that can be stolen or exchanged back and forth. He's a person. You should know that. Or... is he just a weapon to you?"

Zaragio sneered. "You remind me much of someone that I used to know. Someone who spoke of the value of human life. She almost had me believing it myself for a time. But there were so many humans who apparently did not value _her_ life. Humans are so selfish. What purpose does it serve me to give your transient existence value?"

Gourry clutched his sword in one arm and held the other out defensively between Lina and Zara, and Zaragio. "Lina," he said, "go get the others. I'll stay here and make sure that Zaragio doesn't do too much damage."

"G-Gourry..." Lina murmured, looking at her protector in surprise.

"So, it seems that this swordsman will be my first opponent? How trivial." Zaragio scoffed. "What do I have to fear from a mere human who can't even use magical spells?"

"Lina! Hurry!" Gourry pressed.

"Alright." Lina nodded, putting her free hand on Gourry's shoulder. "Don't do anything reckless." She whispered. "If you have to make a choice between being heroic or escaping with your life, you know which one I'd prefer. Don't let your guard down."

"Right. I'll be careful, I promise." He turned around. Taking the flower that Zara had been holding, he placed it back in Lina's hair. "You be careful too." he whispered back in her ear, his cheek brushing against hers as he did so. Lina blushed, and began to run back in the direction of the palace to find their friends.

"Quite a sweet display of affection. Sickening, isn't it, Zara?" Zaragio muttered to himself, a twinge of jealousy in his voice, watching Lina run off with the boy in her arms. There would be time for those two later. First he had to finish off this annoying swordsman.

* * *

"Gee, Lina and Gourry have been gone a while." Zander commented. The group was still in the dining room after dinner, attempting to make conversation.

"They're probably having a good time together." Amelia replied, beginning to think of all the wonderful, family-ish things that the group could do together in the lush courtyard. Like playing with flowers, and laughing for instance.

"Or maybe being attacked." Zelgadis added.

"A-attacked? By who?" Sylphiel asked.

"Well, I think we all have been assuming that, when Zaragio attacks, he would make a big deal out of it- such as a big explosion or something, so that we'd all know about it. But that might not be the case. He may be crazy, but he's no fool." Zelgadis reasoned. "If he were to spring a surprise attack, it might be more effective. And what better time to target Zara than when he's separated from the majority of the group?"

Amelia gasped. "So you think that they could be under attack from Zaragio as we speak?

"That's incredibly possible." Zel nodded.

"I don't think so." Zander said. "I mean, if Zaragio _was_ attacking, they'd be rushing up here to get backup from us, right? So they're probably just messing around in the gardens without a care in the world."

"You're right, Mister Zander!" Amelia grinned. "There's no way that Zaragio could be attacking right now."

"Funny you should say that..."

Everyone turned to Lina, who had just appeared in the doorway. She had just been running, and was out of breath. She had a panic-stricken face, and was clutching Zara tightly. The little boy was hugging Lina harder than she was hugging him, his face filled with fear.

"Miss Lina... do you mean that Zaragio is..." Amelia began hesitantly.

"G-Gourry... needs our help..." Lina puffed. "Th-the courtyard... hurry!"

"Something's happened to Gourry dear?" Sylphiel asked, standing up.

"Not yet... he needs backup..." Lina nodded. "Come on!" She dashed back down the hallway with Zara, leaving the others to realise the full implications of what was happening.

"Quick! We have to follow Miss Lina!" Sylphiel called, running after the sorceress. Zander, Amelia, and Zelgadis followed closely behind.

"You were right after all, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia observed.

"Yeah, and for once, I wish I hadn't been." He replied.

* * *

Gourry had expected Zaragio to be a tough opponent, but even so, he had still severely underestimated him. Armed with only his sword, Gourry was having a hard time standing up to the attacks that Zaragio directed at him, using his weapon as more of a shield than a sword. He realised that this ordinary metal sword wouldn't last forever, and if he just kept acting defensively, it would break before he had the chance to actually attack the monster. Gourry found himself wishing for the Sword of Light again, but he knew that wishing for it and having it were two very different things, and he had to focus on the battle at hand. Dodging a fiery attack, he turned his attention on the monster, and struck out with the sword.

"You think that you can hurt me with that little toothpick?" Zaragio sneered, sending out a plume of fire toward the sword. It engulfed the weapon almost up to the hilt, and Gourry could feel the heat radiating from the attack. He didn't move, but the heat intensified, and he suddenly realised that he would get burned if he stood there any longer. Pulling his sword away from the attack, he saw that the end was warped and bent to the point that it was nearly unrecognisable. The fire had almost melted the strong metal, and Gourry was left to defend himself with a horribly misshapen and nearly useless sword.

"Now, are you ready to give up?" Zaragio asked, drawing closer to Gourry. The swordsman wondered why the monster was so threatening. Zaragio wasn't any taller than Gourry was, and didn't look to be any older either. In fact, he almost had a youthful appearance- his eyes would have sparkled the way Zara's did if it were not for the psychosis evident within them. But the malevolence and bloodlust projected by the monster was practically unfathomable.

"I... I can't. I won't. I promised Lina that I'd get out of this alive." Gourry responded.

"You did, did you?" Zaragio asked. "How sad that you won't be able to keep that promise."

Zaragio lunged at the swordsman with a blade of fire in his hand, ready to strike. Gourry couldn't dodge, and his sword was useless as a defence. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a powerful attack, but suddenly there was a large explosion. Gourry's eyes snapped open again to see that Zaragio's fire sword had been met with a glowing red one of equal calibre.

"Zel!" Gourry gasped happily.

"Oh dear, it seems there's more of you now. Pathetic humans." Zaragio spat.

"I'm afraid you're a bit mistaken. If you can't tell, I'm not entirely human, and not pathetic in the least." Zelgadis replied cleverly, throwing a Fireball at the monster.

Zaragio batted the fireball away with a swish of his hand. Fire didn't affect his physical body at all.

"Mister Gourry, you just leave this us to us! We'll take care of it!" Amelia called.

Gourry nodded, stepping back a bit as Zaragio's attention was captured by the princess and the chimera. Gourry felt someone pulling on his hair, and turned around.

"Ow, ow! Hey!" He yelled.

"You're lucky that Zel and the rest of us made it here when we did. What did I tell you about not dying, jellyfish-brain?" Lina gave Gourry a stern look. Zara was standing beside Lina, looking up at Gourry fearfully.

"But Lina, I'm_ alive_." Gourry replied innocently.

"Yeah, I noticed." She sighed. "If you weren't, I'd resurrect you myself, just to punish you for it. Got it?" Lina winked at him.

"Oh Lina..." Gourry laughed, placing his hand on her head affectionately.

"But what are we going to do about that monster guy?" Zander asked, stepping between the two.

"If it were up to me, I'd like to take a good sword and destroy him myself. Permanently." Gourry replied.

"That sounds awfully violent, Gourry dear. What makes you so angry?" Sylphiel asked.

"A lot of things, actually." Gourry responded. "One- between him and his former minion Lorelei, I've lost two swords. B- He want to get some sort of revenge on the whole human race for something that a small group of people did, and he wants to use Zara to do it. And four- He wants to kill Lina! Isn't that reason enough for me to be mad at him?"

"Well, if you're so angry, then go at him. That sword may be all messed up now, but hey- it's still in one piece." Lina grinned.

"Right! Hey, Amelia, Zel! I'm helping you out too!" Gourry called, rushing to join his friends.

Zander watched the swordsman go. "One, B, and four? That makes no sense." He puzzled.

"You obviously don't speak Jellyfish." Lina teased. "So, are we going to blow up this monster, or what? I never got to use my Dragon Slave yesterday, so I'm itching to destroy something."

Suddenly, there was a large explosion from where Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia were fighting Zaragio. The group was thrust backwards in a plume of cinders and smoke. Amelia was coughing, and Gourry was trying to put out a bunch of sparks that had flown into his hair.

"Don't you humans know that if you play with fire, you're just going to get burned?" Zaragio asked, tossing a glowing coal up and down in his hand as if it were a toy ball. "I'm starting to get bored now, and when I get bored, things don't end up well. I think I'll go ahead and cut to the chase."

Tossing the burning coal, he created a rope of fire, which twirled itself around Zara. The little boy screamed as he was bound tightly by the magical energy.

"Zara!" Lina yelled, lunging for the boy and grabbing him tightly. "I'm not going to let you have him!" She hissed.

"If you wanted to come along too, then that is acceptable. I had wanted to watch you die, anyway, Miss Inverse." Zaragio grinned maliciously. With a flick of his wrist, the magical rope that held Zara wrapped itself around Lina too.

"Let her _go_!" Gourry called threateningly.

"And just what makes you think that I'll listen to your orders, silly human?" Zaragio laughed. He tugged on the line of magical rope and suddenly his image disappeared in a blaze of fire, as if he had been burned away, taking Lina and Zara with him into the ashes.

"LINA! ZARA!" Gourry ran to the place where Zaragio had just been, ran to the place where Lina and Zara had just been, and looked around helplessly. "Where did they _go_?"

Zelgadis put his hand on the frantic swordsman's shoulder. "Calm down and think. Where is the most likely place that Zaragio would go?"

"I don't have _time_ to think! Lina and Zara are in trouble!" Gourry responded, still panicking.

"Mister Zelgadis, do you mean the underground temple?" Amelia asked.

"Exactly." Zel nodded.

"Then we've got to go there and help them!" Gourry exclaimed. "But my sword..." He gazed forlornly at his misshapen sword, or what was left of it anyway.

"The armoury should have a good sword in it." Sylphiel offered. "I've never been there, since my job as a shrine maiden doesn't involve weaponry, but I'm sure that there would be a sword that you could use. It's on your way, after all..."

"Thank you so much, Sylphiel!" Gourry said, beginning to calm down, his eyes filled with gratitude. "There's no time to waste!"

"You're right, Mister Gourry! We've all got to work together to-" Amelia was suddenly cut off by the sound of a distant explosion, and a palace guard running up to the group.

"L-Lady Sylphiel..." The guard huffed. "...some strange monsters are attacking the palace!"

"Strange monsters?" Sylphiel gasped. "Where?"

"All over! They just appeared a few moments ago. They look like big dogs, no, wolves, but they're on fire!"

"Zaragio's minions." Zelgadis scoffed. "Should have known that he'd send them to distract us."

"What do we do?" Amelia cried. "We can't leave Miss Lina and Zara-chan by themselves- but we can't just ignore the attack on the palace!"

"I'll go find Lina and Zara." Gourry said, stepping forward. "You guys are needed here at the palace."

"Mister Gourry, are you sure...?"

"I'm sure, Amelia."

"Zander and I will accompany you to the armoury." Sylphiel said. "Princess Amelia, you guys handle the monsters in the palace."

Amelia nodded in response. "Right! Come on, Mister Zelgadis!" She grabbed the chimera's hand and ran off in the direction that the guards had indicated that the attack had come from.

"Alright, now we're going to get Gourry a sword." Zander said.

"Listen, Sir Gourry." Sylphiel began. "You might have a hard time getting into the underground temple."

"Because the entrance was destroyed last night?" Gourry asked.

"Yes. Zaragio can teleport, so he can enter it easily, but you might have difficulty. I know that you're strong, though, so I'm convinced that you'll find a way in. I'm sure that, if anyone can save Miss Lina and Zara, it's you, Gourry dear." She began running, beckoning for them to follow her.

"Psst! Gourry!" Zander whispered as they ran. "Why does she call you 'dear?' Not that it bothers me or anything, but I'm just curious." He asked, sounding suspiciously bothered, despite his statement.

"She just calls me that because we're old friends. We've known each other for... practically ever. I care about her, but not the same way I care about Lina. So you don't have to worry." Gourry grinned.

"W-worry? Worry about what?" Zander blushed. "I told you, I was just curious!"

"Hey! You two! The armoury is just up ahead!" Sylphiel called.

"Thanks." Gourry nodded to Sylphiel. "And don't worry. I won't let anything happen to Lina or Zara. I promise."

* * *

When Lina and Zara arrived with Zaragio to the underground temple, they were both unconscious.

"Hmph. Humans." Zaragio scoffed. "I suppose they just aren't well-suited to astral travel. Even Zara. I pity the poor boy, really."

Zaragio considered killing Lina before she woke up, but decided against it. The girl had her arms too tightly around Zara- he risked destroying the boy in the process and he needed Zara to carry out his revenge. Zaragio also found no fun in killing an unconscious human, who couldn't fear for their life. He would wait until she was awake and he could enjoy her negative emotions to the fullest.

Turning back to the sight of the temple, he examined it carefully. It hadn't changed much since he last visited it, though that was many years ago, before Veridia's time. But there was evidence of a struggle- a recent one too. Zaragio made note of the damages to the walls and the ceiling, and the scattered evidence of blood- not quite fresh, but not old either. He noted the daggers as well. "Ozzel..." He muttered. "What a failure. I had thought that, since Lorelei was turned against me by her own emotions, having an assassin with no real emotions would be so much easier to deal with. She even allowed me to manipulate her subconscious. But she was weak. Much better suited to being a maid rather than an assassin, I think." Zaragio kicked one of the daggers, and it bounced noisily across the stone floor, landing in the large depression in the middle of the room. Zaragio stared at it.

"Oh dear, the water's dried up. That's no good. I need it for the magical amplifier to work properly." He picked up the dagger and threw it aside. "FREEZE ARROW!" Zaragio filled the pool with ice, and then started a fire on top of it, slowly melting the icy pool into a reflecting pond. He needn't worry about it being contaminated- ice water was some of the freshest water in the world, provided that there was nothing frozen inside it.

Stepping back, he admired his reflection. Though on the outside, he looked like an ordinary young man, reflected in the pool was a wolf covered in fire. He grinned maliciously. The pool was magic- it showed the true nature of the power of the person who was reflected into it.

Zaragio heard the muffled sounds of Lina and Zara beginning to awaken. "L...Lina..." Zara murmured, clutching the girl closely. "Where are we...?"

"...Zara...?" Lina was not fully conscious at that point, but they both snapped to rapt attention when Zaragio stepped in front of them.

"My, my. Good to see you two awake."

"Zaragio! We're in the temple!" Lina exclaimed.

"It's good to know that you can still see." Zaragio nodded. "I'll want you to be alert as possible when I kill you. It will make things so much more painful."

"No!" Zara yelled, clutching Lina tighter. "Y-you can't kill Lina!"

"Hmmm..." Zaragio actually appeared to be thinking over the boy's command. "Maybe I won't kill her."

"R-really?" Zara asked, beginning to wonder whether Zaragio really was really a good monster.

"No. Perhaps I will let _you_ have the honour of doing that." Zaragio grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him loose of the magical bonds that held him.

"Zara!" Lina called as the rope surrounding her disappeared as well.

" No! Let me go! I won't do it!" Zara yelled, trying to pull himself from Zaragio's grip.

"Zara, look." Zaragio gestured to the reflection pond that was directly in front of them. "You and I are the same. We share the same blood, the same powers. Your reflection is identical to mine. No matter how you try to deny it, you are a monster, Zara. Your purpose is to kill, to create chaos. Look at your reflection. It is the real you, Zara." Sure enough, Zara and Zaragio's reflections were identical in the still water.

"No... no... no!" Zara shook his head, not willing to believe it. "It's not true! No! It can't be true! Say it isn't true, Lina!"

Lina ran to the sobbing boy's side. Zaragio did not stop her. He knew that he was right, and that Lina didn't have the nerve to lie to the little boy. "Zara, you can't control who you already are." Lina said gravely.

"I... I..." He began, but Lina wasn't finished.

"You may not be able to control who you are, but you _can_ control what you will become! If you don't want to become the monster in front of you, all you have to do is not let it happen! You are your own person, Zara. And a good person too!" Lina grabbed the child in her arms, but Zaragio stepped threateningly toward them. He wasn't going to let this progress any further.

"Zara! You want revenge on those people who killed your mother, don't you?"

"Y-you mean the ones in my dream?" Zara stammered. "...the ones that killed Lina?"

"He means Veridia!" Lina corrected, seeing the monster's eyes turned viciously on her.

"The humans that killed Veridia. They did it out of hatred. Hatred for _you_, Zara. For _us_. Don't you want revenge for that?"

"I... I..." Zara stammered.

Lina interjected. "What if Zara's already forgiven them?" She yelled.

"_Forgiveness?" _Zaragio scowled. "_After all that happened? Those filthy humans expect to be FORGIVEN?"_

Lina and Zara stepped back away from Zaragio. Just seconds earlier, he had been rational, and almost reasonable. But now, the look in his eyes was clear that he had just lost any shred of sanity that he still had.

"Zara..." He murmured. Stretching out his hand, a fiery cord stretched itself around the little boy, attempting to squeeze the life out of its helpless victim. Zara screamed, but was suddenly cut off because he couldn't breathe.

"What are you _doing_?" Shrieked Lina. "He- he's going to die!"

"Of course." Zaragio grinned with a twisted smile. "Don't you think that _you_ should be the one in this situation instead?"

"Let him go." Lina said, clenching her teeth. "Do whatever you want with me, but let him go!"

The cord surround Zara disappeared in a flash of light, and the little boy fell to the ground, trembling as he regained his breath. "Li...na..." he gasped.

Zaragio stretched out his hand, and the cord appeared again, this time wrapping itself around Lina. She felt her breath suddenly crushed out of her body. Her head spun, and she struggled to remain conscious.

"Lina! Lina, no!" Zara yelled.

"I apologise, Zara, but it must be done. Our revenge will be complete." Zaragio said.

"If this is revenge, then I don't want it! I just want Lina!" Zara shouted.

"Foolish child. The girl will die. And we _will_ have our revenge."

Lina still couldn't breathe and was being steadily crushed. The room spun, and as much as she painfully willed herself to remain conscious, she felt herself slipping further and further into the choking darkness. She sunk to her knees, and fell over motionless onto the stone floor, her hair falling over her face.

"Finally." Zaragio grinned, preparing a powerful attack to fire at the sorceress. Zara watched in dismay, too horrified to scream or say anything. Zaragio was about to throw the attack, but suddenly stopped. Zara caught his breath. What had suddenly stopped the monster from finishing off the sorceress?

"We have a visitor. Someone is trying to break into the magical barrier that I've set up." Zaragio turned around. "I wanted this event to be invitation-only. But, the more the merrier, right Zara? Do you think we should let them in on our fun?"

Zara stepped back, not sure how to respond to Zaragio's question. He was more focused on Lina's unmoving form just beyond the monster.

"What say we give our guest a proper welcome?" Zaragio asked. Snapping his fingers, the form of a person suddenly appeared- having been teleported from just outside the temple.

"Wh-what? What just happened? How did I...?"

"Gourry!" Zara yelled, running up to the swordsman.

"Zara! And... ah! Lina!" Gourry gasped when he saw Lina lying on the ground, in Zaragio's line of fire. "Wh-what did you do to her?"

"Don't get so worked up." Zaragio smiled. "She's not dead. Yet, at least. I'm so glad that you joined us. You made it just in time to see her die."

"What?" Gourry lifted the sword he had. It was sturdy-looking, and bore the royal crest of Sairaag. "I'll never allow that!"

Zaragio smirked. "Don't give me that. You know as well as I do that your puny little sword is no match for my magical abilities. Now, can we please hurry this up? If we don't, then my victim might suffocate before I even get the chance to kill her myself."

Gourry stiffened. He hadn't paid much attention to the glowing red cord that had Lina tightly bound, but on his inspection, it appeared to be much too tight. "N-no... NO! I won't let you!" He thrust the sword forward, but Zaragio shot another cord of magical energy, that bound both Zara and Gourry. Unlike the one that held Lina, it was not too tight. Just enough to ensure that they didn't escape.

"Finally. I can't tell you how glad I am that you showed up, Mister Gabriev. You know, the best way to know how truly powerful an emotion is, is to feel it yourself. I've waited so long to be able to taste the sense of desperation that comes with watching helplessly as your beloved is killed. I'll try to make this as painful as possible... for _you_ at least. Poor Lina will never know what hit her, I'm afraid."

Zaragio turned away from the two, his attention once again focused on Lina.

"No! Lina!" Gourry yelled, but Zaragio didn't look up. Instead, the monster shot an enormous helix of powerful flames at the sorceress. They met their target with a deafening explosion. The only thing that could be heard over the explosion were the desperate shrieks of a little boy.

"LINAAAAAAAAAA!" But suddenly, Zara's screams were cut off by a pair of hand that were shoved over his mouth.

* * *

"_Elmikia Lance!" _Amelia yelled, finishing off another of Zaragio's creatures. "Say, Mister Zelgadis? These things are pretty easy to defeat, aren't they?" She asked.

"They really are. Which makes me suspicious..." Zel mumbled back.

"Suspicious? Of what?"

"Well, if Zaragio really planned to gain anything by sending his minions to attack the palace of Sairaag, he would have done better choosing a few strong monsters. Not a bunch of weak ones." Zelgadis reasoned.

"So, you think that they're..." Amelia began.

"...just a diversion. They're meant to keep us away from Lina and Zara."

Amelia began to panic. "So, you mean that he's just trying to keep us busy while he finishes off Miss Lina and Zara-chan?"

"That's the only explanation that I can think of." Zel replied.

"But... that means that..." Amelia's voice trailed off. Suddenly, they heard screams from the next room over.

"That must be another monster!" Amelia exclaimed. "I thought that we'd destroyed them all!"

"We can't waste any time! The faster we defeat all these things, the faster we can help Lina, Gourry, and Zara!" Zelgadis replied, racing toward the large hallway where the scream had come from. He gasped when he reached the place. Staring back at them was a large, flaming wolf, at least twice the size of the ones that they had previously been fighting.

"N-no way! Do you think this one is... the leader?" Amelia asked.

"It's probable." Zelgadis replied.

"Then let's get rid of it! If we do, then the others will stop attacking for sure!" Amelia exclaimed. "ELMIKIA LA-"

Suddenly, the wolf shot a powerful beam of fire at the princess, knocking her into a wall.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis gasped. He hadn't expected such a potent attack from the monster.

"I.. I'm fine..." Amelia murmured, getting up from where she had fallen. "But where did the..." Amelia's voice trailed off as she looked around for the monster, which was rushing toward her from behind.

"AMELIA! LOOK OUT!"

Zelgadis' words reached the princess just in time for her to turn around and scream at the sight of the monster attacking her. As she fell over, unconscious, the monster examined its prey, preparing to fire another attack to finish her off.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis yelled. His quick speed allowed him to be by her side in the instant as the monster shot the powerful attack. But there was not time to dodge, as he watched the flaming attack coming straight for them.

* * *

(A/N: Two cliff-hangers in one chapter? I'm worse than Zaragio! I actually didn't originally plan to end the chapter this way, but the story is quickly getting to the end, which makes me kind of sad. I like the story and don't want it to end yet... Heheh... :3)


	20. 20: Fight Back! Confrontational climax!

-More fast updates; I felt kind of bad about where I left the story last time... Plus I had a lot of free time today. Heheh...-

* * *

**20- Fight Back! The confrontational climax! **

"Amelia!" Zelgadis yelled. His quick speed allowed him to be by her side in the instant as the monster shot the powerful attack. But there was not time to dodge, as he watched the flaming attack coming straight for them.

He braced himself for the impact of the oncoming attack, but it never came. Zelgadis looked up suddenly, in surprise. The enormous Fireball hung threateningly in the air above them, unmoving.

"Quickly! Get out of the way!" A voice called.

The voice reminded Zelgadis that they were being attacked. He rushed to get Amelia to safety, and watched as the Fireball resumed its collision course once they were out of harm's way. "I'm done playing around with you!" He shouted to the wolf, who was approaching him, staring at him the same way it had with Amelia. "This'll finish you off once and for all! _RA TILT!" _

Zelgadis' powerful attack engulfed the monster the was instantly disintegrated with a howl of pain. It had been strong, but it was no match for Zelgadis, especially after it had nearly killed Amelia.

He examined the princess, still unconscious with a few wounds. Suddenly, another person dropped to the ground beside him.

"Is the princess alright?" She asked.

Zelgadis gasped, suddenly realising who the person who stopped the Fireball was. "Ozzel!" Turning back to Amelia, he muttered "I guess she's alright. I'm using some healing spells, so she should be okay in just a few minutes."

"That is a relief." Ozzel replied, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" Zel asked. "I thought you were working for Zaragio?"

"I apologise. Zaragio has released me from his subconscious, showing me that I am no longer needed. But Master Rezo designed me to have a purpose, or else I have no reason to exist, so I need a new master. Thus, in this case, my loyalty falls to the person who saved my life." Ozzel made a small bow toward the pair. "I am at your service, Princess Amelia."

Zelgadis wasn't sure if he believed it or not. Ozzel, who had just been the cause of an entire battle the day before, making a 360 turn to serve Amelia instead? It would be helpful if she was speaking the truth- obviously she had helped them in the fight against the monster just now. But Zelgadis didn't want to be tricked, especially when it involved Amelia. The princess stirred slightly in his arms, revived by the healing spells.

"G-good to see... that you've chosen... to walk the path of Justice, Miss Ozzel..." Amelia murmured, still semi-conscious. Zelgadis helped her stand up, and she tried to walk, but nearly fell. Ozzel caught Amelia and supported the girl on her shoulder, the way Amelia had done for her the previous night.

"Will you be alright, Princess Amelia?" The doll asked her master, concerned.

"Of course! Justice will always prevail over evil!" Amelia exclaimed, returning to her normal self finally.

"Good to hear it." Zelgadis replied. He secretly had wanted to be the one to support Amelia on his shoulder, though Ozzel seemed to have taken it upon herself to do so. Now he wasn't as concerned with whether Ozzel was really on Amelia's side, but with the possibility of the doll taking over his protective responsibility. Wasn't _he_ supposed to be the one to defend Amelia? Or was it pure selfishness?

"We've got to go to that underground temple where we were last night." Zel said. "It'll be hard getting in, but we've got to help Lina, Gourry, and Zara somehow."

"The main entranceway was destroyed last night, but I know a secret entrance." Ozzel replied. "That's how I was able to get in yesterday without you noticing."

"Perfect, Miss Ozzel! It was a path used for evil in the past, but now we can use it for the sake of Justice!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Well, let's hurry up then." Zelgadis responded, grabbing one of Amelia's hands with a slight glare at Ozzel that the doll did not notice.

* * *

Zaragio's red hair was whipped around by the blast of wind that resulted from the blast. He stared with a blank expression at the place where Lina had been just moments before. The smoke and sparks cleared away from the place to reveal that everything in the attack's path had been obliterated.

There was nothing left.

"L-Lina..." Gourry choked.

"LI-" Zara began, but the hands were shoved over his mouth again. He wasn't afraid of them, however. He could recognise the aura of the monster who was silencing him.

"_Be quiet. Don't worry, alright_?" A familiar voice whispered into his ear.

"But..." He whispered back, his voice trailing off. Gourry and Zaragio were not paying attention to the Zara's conversation, however.

"Finally. The human that has been plaguing me for the past two months is finally destroyed. I must admit, it worked much better than I expected. I didn't expect her to be incinerated completely. I suppose that robbed you of the pleasure of seeing all that was left of her, though." Zaragio said with a glare at Gourry.

"Y-you..." Gourry couldn't find the heart to say anything else.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to know that you'll soon be joining her. And with the two of you out of the way, then our revenge can be put into action-" But Zaragio was cut off by a voice from the other side of the room.

"Tsk, tsk. I'm disappointed in you, Zaragio. What kind of monster fires an attack that he doesn't expect to have fired back at him?"

Zaragio gasped. How had someone managed to break into his barrier without his consent? It was impossible, unless they were a very powerful mazoku... Zaragio's amazement was short-lived, however.

"Mister Zaragio, I believe this is _yours_." The same attack that Zaragio had fired at Lina was now rushing back toward him. Only this time, it was even stronger, and mixed with the flames were streaks of dark energy that caused Zaragio to be pushed back with a large explosion. Gourry gasped and tried to look for the person who had shot the attack, but the person had disappeared.

Suddenly, the voice came from behind Gourry, making him turn around. "And, I believe this belongs to _you_, Gourry."

"Lina!" Gourry gasped, grabbing the girl from the arms of the person that had rescued her. She was untied, still unconscious, but very much alive. She was alive! Gourry clasped Lina closer, remembering all the times that she had nearly been killed when they were fighting enemies. Every time, Gourry had been scared out of his mind, but every time she ended up back in his arms, unharmed. He shouldn't have doubted that this time would be any different, but he was still incredibly grateful.

"And now I'll take on Zaragio!" A high-pitched voice yelled from beside Zara.

"Not now, dear. Just be patient. He's still recuperating from the attack that I shot at him. It's only fair to give him some time to recover. We're here to act defensively, not offensively."

"Aww~! I wanted to give him a good beating for all that he's put us through..."

"Xellos! Lorelei! When did you two get here?" Gourry asked, still tightly clutching Lina.

"Just now." Lorelei winked. "Father had to get Lina out of harm's way, and I made sure that poor Zara didn't make too much racket. It's distracting when you're trying to fight." Zara broke away from Lorelei's grasp, and rushed to join Gourry and Lina.

"Xellos! You saved Lina!" Gourry gasped.

"Well, considering that a human probably wouldn't survive an attack like that, I suppose I did." Xellos said, grinning.

"B-but why? Did someone order you to?" Gourry asked.

Xellos frowned. "Honestly, you don't trust me? Maybe I've just come to help out a friend of my own accord."

"You're not that kind of person, Xellos. I know you too well." Gourry replied.

"You're smarter than you let on." Xellos smirked. "As it turns out, Lorelei and I actually _are _here by the orders of a superior."

"To do what?" Zara asked.

"That is a secret." Xellos teased, waving his finger in the air.

"I figured..." Gourry sighed.

There was a large crash, and an explosion. The group watched as Zaragio stood up again, looking as though the attack hadn't affected him at all. "Well, well. If it isn't Beastmaster Zelas' little lap dog. Just what are you doing here anyway? Certainly you're not here for me, right?"

"Hey!" Lorelei yelled. "Don't call my father a lap dog!"

Zaragio turned his eyes toward his former servant. "Lorelei..." He murmured. He began to slowly approach her. Lorelei turned to Xellos with a hopeful expression.

"Father, now can I...?"

"Go ahead." Xellos nodded.

Lorelei grinned, and materialised a large, metallic staff, sharper and more powerful than the one that she had previously possessed. "Weeee! This is going to be fun!" She grinned, flying toward Zaragio, slashing back and forth with the staff. Her speed took the monster by surprise.

"That does look like fun, Lorelei! Mind if I join you?" Xellos asked, teleporting to where Lorelei and Zaragio were fighting, joining the skirmish.

Gourry watched in amazement at their technique. The two monsters knew each other so well that they were practically in sync, and Gourry could see Zaragio beginning to get exasperated from the attacks.

"Foolish monsters! Why are you helping those humans?" Zaragio yelled.

"That's a secret!" The two replied in unison.

Zaragio looked as if he wanted to strangle both of them at that moment. He sent out his flaming cord, but Xellos and Lorelei were too fast, and teleported around him tauntingly.

"Yeah! Yeah! You can do it! Go Lorelei!" Zara was yelling almost like a cheerleader for his best friend.

Gourry smiled at the little boy who seemed so happy despite the fact that they were stuck in a serious situation at the moment. A slight movement from the girl in his arms grabbed Gourry's attention.

"G...Gourry?" Lina murmured, beginning to open her eyes.

"Lina! You're awake!" Gourry replied, suddenly flooded with relief. It seemed like Lina was back to her normal self.

Lina seemed to be examining her surroundings. When she had passed out, she had been tied up by Zaragio who was about to kill her. Now she was no longer tied up, and in the arms of her protector who had seemed to appear from nowhere. "G-Gourry... did you save me...?" She asked.

"I wish I could say that I did," Gourry replied sadly. "but it's actually thanks to Xellos that you're still alive."

"Xellos?" Lina gasped. "No way! That's terrible!"

"T-terrible?" Gourry stammered. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if that annoying monster actually did save me, then he probably will say that I owe him one! And you know that it's never a good thing to be in debt to a monster- especially if that monster is Xellos!" Lina huffed angrily.

Gourry sighed. Lina had only been awake for a few moments, and already she was angry at someone. "You don't have to worry about that, Lina. If anyone owes Xellos anything for saving you, it's me. I'm supposed to be your protector, and I almost failed to do my job. If you had died, I wouldn't have been able to live with it. I don't care how much I owe Xellos, as long as you're alright."

Gourry had realised that the two of them had been carrying on a conversation and Lina hadn't once yelled at him or asked him to put her down yet. He decided that, if he was going to get yelled at eventually anyway, he might make the most of it. With Lina still in his arms, he pulled her closer with her head resting on his shoulder. To his surprise, she didn't yell at him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his hug.

"You don't have to be all depressing about it, Jellyfish-brain. Gosh, you're starting to sound like Zel." She murmured softly to him.

"You think? And you don't like it?" He whispered back.

"I like it a lot better when you sound like Gourry, idiot."

"Um, you guys are whispering a lot. Am I not supposed to be hearing this?" Zara asked innocently.

"Z-Zara!" Lina exclaimed, blushing. She let go of Gourry, and jumped down to the little boy's level, grabbing him happily and hugging him the way she had just been hugging Gourry. "I was just saying that he sounds like Zel when he gets all serious like that. Doesn't he, though?"

"Yeah, he does. Just with less big words." Zara laughed.

"You're right! I hadn't noticed!" Lina laughed right back.

"Um... are you guys forgetting that Lorelei and Xellos are still fighting Zaragio? And I think he wants to murder us even more now." Gourry pointed out.

"Killjoy... just when we were having fun too..." Lina growled, and Gourry couldn't tell whether she was talking about him or Zaragio. "Let's get this guy out of our way for good. Come on!" Lina stomped over to where Xellos and Lorelei were. "Hey you two! Let me at this guy for once! He's really gotten on my nerves lately!" Lina exclaimed.

"Of course Miss Lina. I'm afraid that we both got a little carried away, and went a bit beyond our mission parameters. It really should be you who should finish him off." Xellos replied, turning away from where Zaragio sat against the wall, cornered.

"It should be pretty easy! We beat him up pretty badly! He can hardly move now!" Lorelei enthused.

Lina walked over to the place where Zaragio sat. The monster lifted his head toward the sorceress, wincing as he did. "So... it appears as if the tables have finally turned on me, haven't they?" He choked.

"I'll say." Lina replied. "You were doomed from the start. Revenge may sometimes be justified, but the lengths that you are going to are much too great. You are endangering so many people beyond those who really should be punished. You would never be allowed to succeed."

"How very interesting this is. Indeed, just a little while ago, I thought that I had killed you. And now, here you stand to kill me instead."

"It takes a lot of courage to appreciate the irony in your own death, I suppose." Lina replied. "So... I feel it's polite to ask...do you have any last words before I blow you into oblivion?"

Zaragio smiled weakly. "Just do your very best, Lina Inverse." He replied.

Lina stepped back, nodding. "Gotcha." She said respectfully.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows,_

_buried in the stream of time is where your power grows._

_I pledge myself to conquer all the foes that stand,_

_before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand._

_Let all the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!_

_**DRAGON SLAVE!"**_

The explosion filled the room with light and sound. Lorelei and Zara covered their ears against the noise. Xellos and Gourry held their respective children, watching in suspense as the monster who had caused so many problems was engulfed in an enormous explosion of light.

Lina's hair blew wildly as the explosion and light began to die down. Her spell had reduced everything in that particular corner to rubble, and destroyed a large portion of the floor. The beautiful design of the floor was blighted.

"Take that!" Lina said contentedly, staring at the pile of stone and bricks where Zaragio had just been.

"Lina! You did it!" Zara yelled. The sorceress was suddenly joined by the little boy and her protector, both congratulating her while secretly checking to make sure she was okay.

Lina smiled, and picked up the boy, twirling him around the way she had before. He laughed in delight at the sudden display of affection.

Lorelei and Xellos kept a safe distance away from the celebration, as it would be significantly detrimental to their health. But Lorelei smiled, seeing Zara's smile. She wanted to run up and hug him, knowing that his positive emotions didn't hurt her. But if she did that, she'd risk getting caught up in Lina and Gourry's happiness, which she did not want. Instead, she just called and waved, sending her best friend the smile on her face. "Zara!"

"Lorelei!" Zara called, waving back. He separated himself from Lina's grasp, and began to run toward his friend. Suddenly, his foot was caught on something, and he tripped and fell down with a large crash.

"ZARA! Are you alright?" Lina asked, running up to the boy with a panicked expression. Thoughts flashed through her mind quickly. He could have simply tripped on a loose rock or other obstruction. The floor was, after all, an insane mess after the battle that had just taken place. But Lina's worst fears were confirmed as she saw the glowing red cord bound tightly around Zara's ankles.

"N-no... it can't be..." She stammered.

A fiery explosion erupted from the pile of rubble beside them, and Lina and Gourry were pushed a few feet back. "Impossible!" Lina gasped.

Deep, maniacal laughter could be heard from the blazing inferno and Lina stepped even further back in fear. Gourry rushed to her side, his sword drawn again. He was going to fully protect Lina this time, no matter what.

Lina and the others could make out Zaragio's laughing shape within the flames that surrounded him. "You..." His deep voice pierced the blaze. "You fell for that old trick! Faking your own death to catch your enemies off guard! I'd think that _you _would know better, Lina Inverse!" Lina didn't think that Zaragio had any sanity left to lose, but she had been wrong. His voice was unsteady, and his laughter sounded frantic and almost forced.

"N-no way! So it was all just..." Lorelei stammered, watching the scene in fear.

"...just a trick." Xellos finished, his violet eyes glaring viciously at the fire monster.

"Lina! LINA! HELP ME!" Zara screamed hysterically as Zaragio pulled the boy to his side within the flaming aura that surrounded him.

"Zara! Zara, no!" Lina rushed as fast as she could toward the two, but a force field of red magical energy held her back. Lina recognised the attack- it was the same one that Zara had used the day they first met. He had cared enough about her to save her life, even though he had only known her for a few hours. But the attack that had allowed Zara to save Lina's life was now the very same attack that was keeping Lina from saving Zara's.

"What are you doing?" Lina yelled. "The floor's been destroyed! The magical amplifier won't work- there's no point anymore!"

Zaragio's laughter continued. "You thought _that _was the magical amplifier? Hah! This place was only for decoration! The real amplifier is farther within the temple! Unfortunately you won't be able to find it in time- revenge will be sweet!" Zaragio picked up Zara, and the child struggled against the monster's grip, but Zaragio quickly used a spell to knock the boy unconscious.

"No! Zara, no!" Lina shrieked as the two disappeared in a blaze of flames. All that was left were the echoes of Zaragio's maniacal laughter ringing through the temple. The laughter was somewhat familiar- it reminded Lina of Phibrizzo. Horrifying memories came flooding back to her; memories of the time she almost lost all her friends, the time she almost lost _Gourry_- the person she loved more than the rest of the world put together- and she fell to her knees. Zaragio was undeniably, completely, and totally insane now.

_And now he had Zara._

"No! No! No!" Lina screamed, the tears in her eyes beginning to spill over. Gourry rushed to her side, pulling her into his arms protectively. Her head rested on his chest as she sobbed.

"It can't end like this! We can't let him win! There's got to be some way to save Zara- THERE JUST _HAS_ TO!"

"Lina..." Gourry murmured. He was stroking her hair comfortingly, but his pain-stricken face gave away his own dismay at the situation. "You've got to calm down. We _will _find Zara, but we can't do it if you're acting like this."

"R-right." Lina pulled herself away from Gourry and wiped her tearstained face.

Xellos and Lorelei approached the scene, as it was much more than safe for them now. But, even though they were monsters, neither of them really had the heart to enjoy Lina and Gourry's desperation.

"From what he said, I gather that the true magical amplifier is deeper underground- farther into the temple." Xellos stated, clutching a distraught Lorelei to his side.

"But how do we get to it?" Lina's voice was still shaky, as if she might burst out in sobs again.

"That, I honestly don't know." Xellos replied. "I wish that I did, but that bit of information is a secret, even to me."

There was a rush of footsteps and noise as a hidden door on the side of the temple that the group had not seen suddenly burst open.

"This is the main level of the palace, where we were last night, Princess." Ozzel said, leading Amelia and Zelgadis out into the room. The two gasped at the sight of the room- it had been nearly half-destroyed, a product of Zaragio's attacks and Lina's Dragon Slave.

"M-Miss Lina! Mister Gourry! ... and Miss Lorelei and Mister Xellos as well!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Zel! Amelia!" Lina replied, nearly sobbing again. Amelia examined the scene- Zara and Zaragio were nowhere to be found, the temple was half-destroyed, and Lina was practically in tears. Amelia's mind filled in the blanks about what must have happened.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia ran up to the sorceress who nearly collapsed in her arms. Amelia had almost never seen Lina acting so distraught. "Y-you don't mean that Zara-chan was..."

"Zaragio is crazy." Lina choked. "He let himself get hit with a Dragon Slave to make us believe that we had finally defeated him. We were really fooled, and let our guard down. He... took... Zara..."

"Took Zara? Took him where?" Zelgadis asked.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be standing around here doing nothing, stone-face!" Lorelei growled. Amelia and Xellos had to hold the two back to make sure that they didn't kill each other right there. They did have other, more important things to worry about.

"We believe that they went deeper into the temple. But we're not sure how to get there." Xellos explained.

"Deeper?" Amelia asked. "Miss Ozzel, didn't your secret passage lead deeper into the temple?"

"That is correct, Princess." Ozzel replied with a respectful nod of her head.

"Ozzel?" Lina hadn't really taken much notice of the doll up to this point. "W-wasn't she a servant of Zaragio?"

"She was, but now she has been reformed to the side of Justice!" Amelia replied. "She is now under the leadership of Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, the defender of Justice!"

"I am at your service, Princess." Ozzel replied, bowing.

"So now the scary doll is working for the crazy princess? Weird." Lorelei observed. She expected Lina to make some sort of comment back, but the sorceress didn't reply. Instead, she addressed Amelia and Zelgadis.

"You said that the secret passageway leads deeper into the temple, right? Then let's get down there now! It could be our only chance to save Zara!" Lina exclaimed, running off toward the door, followed closely behind by Gourry.

"W-wait for us, Miss Lina!" Amelia called, as the remaining five people followed.

Lina ran down the passageway frantically, with Gourry at her side. "Lina, are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine Gourry! But no one- especially not a crazy monster like Zaragio- is going to use _my son_ as a weapon! That's for sure!"

Gourry gasped. "Lina, did you just...?"

"Yeah, I did!"

"So you really do care about him!" Gourry exclaimed.

Lina whacked Gourry over the head as they ran. "Of course I do! I freaking LOVE that kid! It's impossible not to!"

"I knew it. I knew it all along." Gourry smiled.

"Yeah, well, rub it in my face why don't you?" Lina sighed. "I guess I never really realised how much I cared about him until his life was in danger. That's really the way it always is. You never realise how much you love someone until they're almost killed. Just like when Phibrizzo..." Lina didn't finish her sentence, looking up at Gourry.

"Like when Phibrizzo what?" Gourry asked.

"Nothing. Never mind." Lina replied. "We've got to get Zara back! Just a little bit further!"

* * *

(A/N: I think I might have said something once about there being 20 chapters, but obviously there will be more. I wanted to elaborate the story some. It's so much fun to write! :3)


	21. 21: Rescue! Because we love you!

_This one really doesn't require any introduction. Enjoy. :3_

* * *

**21- Rescue! Because we love you!**

Lina and Gourry stepped cautiously into the large chamber that the path had led down into.

"S-so this is it..." Gourry gasped. The entire place seemed to glitter with red gemstones, and there was a large structure in the centre of the room. "Wh-what is that?"

"It looks almost like... a giant sundial..." Lina replied, staring at the raised octagonal platform.

"But it has those try-thingies." Gourry pointed out. Lina also noted the trigrams- in the same pattern as the decoration on the floor of the upper chamber. She approached it cautiously, but when she got close, she was stopped by a barrier of red magical energy. She yelled when she touched it, and was sent backwards with a flash of light.

"Ouch." She murmured, examining the finger that she had touched the barrier with. It appeared to have been burned, but was nothing that a simple recovery spell couldn't heal in a few seconds.

"You?" Lina and Gourry heard Zaragio's loud voice echoing through the cavernous room. "How did you find this place and get here so quickly?"

"That's a secret, you monster!" Lina yelled back. She was not happy with Zaragio now, and was more than ready to fight him.

"Heh, well, no matter. Our plan is already in action. Isn't that right, Zara?"

"Y-yes sir..." Zara choked.

Lina gasped. The little boy was surrounded by an aura of fire- and from the way he looked, it seemed as though it was painful. "Zara!" She exclaimed. She began to run toward the boy.

"L-Lina! Don't!" He called, but it was too late. When Lina got close, an explosion of fire shot her backwards painfully.

"Lina! Are you okay?" Gourry asked. He, Amelia, Zelgadis, and Ozzel ran up to Lina, who was clutching her arm painfully. It had been burned when she got too close to Zara.

"Yeah... but Zara isn't..." She murmured.

"What are you talking about?" Zaragio laughed. "Zara is discovering his true powers- isn't it amazing? But this is only the beginning! There is so much more power sealed inside him, waiting to be drawn out!"

"You fool! You'll kill him if you do that!" Lina yelled. "That much power unleashed at once would _destroy _him!"

"Hmph. The only ones that are going to be destroyed right now are you!" Zaragio turned to the little boy. "Zara, why don't you show them some of the tricks I've taught you?"

"I-" Zara gasped, as a fiery blade materialised itself in his hands. He lunged at the group of people, sending them scattering away from the little boy. "Help! I can't control it!" He sobbed.

"We've got to do something!" Lina yelled. "If we don't, then Zara's going to be destroyed by his own powers!"

"Not to mention that we'll also get killed in the process." Zelgadis added.

"But he can't control the attacks! How are we going to help him without hurting him?" Gourry asked.

"We have to help him regain control of his subconscious mind." Ozzel said. "Right now, he is being manipulated like a puppet by Zaragio. We have to find a way to bring him back to his senses."

"But how do we do that, Miss Ozzel?" Amelia asked.

"His own willpower can overthrow Zaragio's control. If he refuses Zaragio's orders outright, then he will regain control of his body." Ozzel explained.

"So we just have to put him into a situation where he can't- or won't- obey Zaragio's orders, correct?" Zelgadis questioned. "Isn't that kind of dangerous? We don't know just how far Zaragio's control over him goes. If we expect Zara to defy the monster's orders and he obeys him instead..."

"Someone could get hurt, or worse." Amelia finished.

"I, for one, will not stand for this!" Lina replied, standing up. "Zaragio wants Zara to kill me, right? So we'll just have to make sure that he gets the chance! Maybe, if he has the perfect opportunity, he'll refuse!"

"W-wait! So you're going to let yourself get cornered so that Zara-chan can kill you?" Amelia gasped.

"I'm hoping that he has the willpower to refuse..." Lina replied. "But that_ is_ the idea." She began stepping toward Zara and Zaragio, but Gourry grabbed her and pulled her back.

"You're not going anywhere. I'm your protector, and since I think Zara would be just as reluctant to kill me as he would you, I'll do it instead." He said.

"B-but Gourry! What if it doesn't work?" Lina protested.

"What if it didn't work for you? What would I do?" Gourry asked. "I don't want to lose you, Lina."

"And _I_ don't want to lose_ you_, jellyfish-brain!" Lina shot back.

"No one wants anyone to get hurt!" Amelia exclaimed, coming between the two of them.

"We've got to save Zara, though. I have a good feeling that this will work." Gourry said, stepping forward before Lina could pull him back.

"I sure hope you're right, jellyfish-brain..." Lina murmured.

"Hey! Zara! You're trying to kill us, right? Well, if that's what you want, then I'm right here!" Gourry yelled.

"Giving yourself up already?" Zaragio asked suspiciously. "You put up quite a fight before to abandon it now. What are you up to now? Not trying to pull the same trick that I did, are you?"

"No! I'm serious!" Gourry dropped his sword and it fell to the ground with a clatter. "Look Zara, I'm not going to fight back! Go ahead! What are you waiting for?"

"Hmph. If you want to throw your life away so easily, then who am I to stop you?" Zaragio laughed. "Go on then Zara. Give the young man what he wants. _Destroy him_."

"I-I...I..." Zara stammered, lifting his sword with difficulty. He appeared to be fighting back, but he was having trouble, and was getting closer and closer to Gourry.

"Quickly! We don't have all day!" Zaragio ordered.

Zara obeyed.

The little boy lunged forward with the flaming sword in hand, raising it high to bring down on top of Gourry.

"Gourry!" Lina screamed as the little boy attacked. But suddenly, just before the sword hit its target, it stopped.

"No... no! NO! NO! NO! I won't do it! I WON'T!" Zara cried, the tears running down his cheeks quickly being evaporated by the flaming aura around him. Gourry looked up at the boy again in relief. It had worked! Zara was no longer under Zaragio's control. "I'm not going to kill Gourry or anybody, no matter what you tell me! You're being nothing but mean to him, and I know why too! You're jealous! It's because, in two months, he's been a better dad to me than you ever were my whole life!"

Everyone was shocked, especially Zaragio. The flames around Zara began to grow as he continued shouting.

"You always wanted me to be nothing but evil, and to do terrible things! You're a bad monster and I won't let you hurt any of the people I love! Gourry was always nice to me and looked out for me! He taught me to do good, caring things, and helped me out when I was in trouble, and comforted me when I was scared, and acted like he actually loved me!"

Zara rushed back toward the monster with the flaming sword in his hand, attempting to strike the monster that had nearly caused the death of the people that he cared about.

"What? What nonsense are you spouting?" Zaragio spat, jumping out of the way of all Zara's attacks. "You think that I did none of that?"

Zara stopped, not quite believing what Zaragio was saying. "At least Veridia tried to protect me the way Lina always does! You just sat by and watched while we were attacked!"

Lina had a feeling that the fire surrounding Zara was doing something to him. He had never been so outright with insults and accusations before. Zara's intentions were good, but his monster side was showing up far more powerfully now.

"You..." Zaragio growled. "You actually think that it was my CHOICE to sit and watch helplessly as those cruel humans tried to destroy everything in the world that I loved? DO YOU? You that I WANTED to be forced for nearly two whole years, every second more painful than the last, wishing for nothing but revenge on the people who took away everything that I ever cared about?" The monster grabbed his head painfully, falling to his knees. "Zara..." he murmured agonizingly. "Wh-what... what am I doing...?"

Lina gasped, watching the scene. The psychosis evident in Zaragio's speech before was slowly draining away, and his eyes were returning to normal. "I think he's... finally seen the light..." She observed.

Zara walked up to the monster, staring at him. "Zara,... I..." Zaragio began. "These are not the people that we should be attacking... those people are far away from here... and to risk your life in all of this...I should have never... I didn't think that..." He wasn't sure how Zara would react to him, judging by the boy's previous accusations, but was taken by surprise. The little boy approached the monster and threw his arms around him.

"You _can_ love. You _are_ a good monster. I'm sorry." Zara murmured.

The small group watched the monster and half-monster, happy together for the first time in what seemed like forever. After all that had happened, Lina didn't think that she'd be able to forgive Zaragio so easily, but she saw the look in his eyes. It was the same look that she had seen on Zara, and the eyes were the same. Though somewhat appalled by it, Lina had to admit that she actually felt sorry for Zaragio. Maybe, finally, this struggle would all be over.

"Zara," Zaragio began, standing up, "it's impossible to forgive me for the things I've done. It's too much isn't it?"

"No, it's not." Zara replied, his eyes sparkling warmly. Suddenly, he backed away a few steps, and fell to his knees clutching his head in pain.

"Z-Zara?" Lina asked, watching the boy.

"L-LINA? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Zara screamed as the fire flared up around him. A white-hot flame began in the centre of the inferno, and shot out an explosion that blasted Lina and her friends against the walls. It felt as though the temperature of the enormous room rose at least 10°C.

"Zara!" Lina yelled through the smoke.

"Wh-what's going on?" Amelia coughed.

"That power! Zara's powers!" Zaragio gasped. "They're finally awakening! But..."

The dark shape of the little boy clashed with the white flame that blazed furiously around him. His eyes were no longer green- they were a pure, glowing white colour, and the very air around him was hazy due to the excessive amount of heat generated by the flames.

"N-no way! His eyes are white!" Gourry exclaimed.

"Of course." Zaragio responded. "Fire takes on a colour based on its heat. Relatively cool fires are red, while hotter fires are yellow, and then the very hottest fires are blue, and sometimes even white."

"So you mean that that flame...?" Ozzel began.

"...is the hottest fire known to this world." Zaragio finished.

Amelia gasped. "Is that why it's getting so hot in here? We're all going to get fried!"

"Right." Zaragio nodded.

"But even for someone with your kind of power, that kind of heat is too much." Zelgadis reasoned.

"Right, again." Zaragio said. "At this rate... if Zara's powers keep progressing..."

"H-he'll be incinerated!" Lina choked.

"Exactly." Zaragio murmured.

Zara shot an enormous blast of fire out in all directions. There was no room to dodge, and the group could only watch in horror as the inferno approached them. Amelia screamed, clutching Zelgadis, and Gourry grabbed Lina with his sword held defensively as though it could actually stop the incoming flare. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, and Lina looked up to see Zaragio supporting a thick barrier of red magical energy. "Z-Zaragio!" She exclaimed.

"Quickly! We don't have much time- Zara doesn't have much time!" He said, turning to Lina. "There's no way to reverse the damage that has already been done, but we can stop it from progressing any further!"

"And how exactly do we do that?" Lina asked. She was prepared to do anything to save Zara's life. Zaragio's reply was shot and concise.

"You must destroy me."

"Whaaaat?" Lina gasped. "D-destroy _you_? But why?"

"I created this magical amplifier, and its functionality depends on my power being present. If I were to be destroyed, then it would lose power and immediately stop working. Zara might sustain some damage from the sudden loss of power, but it would be nothing compared to what he would suffer if we did nothing." Zaragio explained. "But only a very powerful person could actually finish off a monster such as myself. That's why I'm asking you, Lina Inverse. You're the only one with the magical capabilities to do so."

Lina figured that was true, since Xellos (and Lorelei) seemed to have vanished to somewhere else. "But Zaragio, you'd allow yourself to be killed just to stop this?" Lina asked.

Zaragio smiled sadly. "I have no reason to stay alive. Zara is important to me, but he has _you_ and that is assurance enough that he will be fine. Some time ago, I lost someone very important to me, and I've been wishing to see her again. So you need not worry about me, Lina Inverse."

Lina looked up in awe at the monster. Just a while ago, he had been maniacally trying to kill her, and now he was imploring her to destroy him. "But which spell should I use? The Dragon Slave obviously wasn't strong enough."

"That is true, though I am much weaker now than I was at that time. Do you have any spells that are more powerful?" He responded.

"A more powerful spell, huh...?" Lina murmured.

"Lina, you're not talking about the...?" Gourry asked nervously.

"Well, the Giga Slave would be _too_ powerful- it could destroy the whole temple. But perhaps if I were to use the Ragna Blade..." She reasoned.

"Y-you should hurry, Lina Inverse. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold up this barrier, and if the barrier were to fail, then we all would be incinerated and, eventually, so would Zara."

Lina nodded. "Of course. Are you sure about this, Zaragio?"

"Of course. You must remember that you are destroying someone guilty to save someone innocent. I wish you luck, Lina Inverse, and beg you to take good care of Zara."

"Right. You can count on that." Lina replied. "Here goes nothing...

_Lord of dreams that terrify__  
sword of cold and darkness  
free yourself from the heavens bonds  
become one with my power ,one with my body  
and let us walk the path of destruction together  
power that can even smash the souls of the gods-  
__**RAGNA BLADE!**__"_

Lina raised the blade of the sword and drove it directly into Zaragio. At the same time, the red barrier disappeared, and the fire surrounding Zara subsided, causing the little boy to fall over, unconscious, but unharmed. A blast of light came from where Lina and Zaragio stood, and Lina could feel the blade's power increasing as the monster was destroyed. In one last flash of light, they both disappeared.

"L-Lina? Where'd she go?" Gourry asked.

* * *

Lina looked around her, but could see nothing everywhere she looked. It wasn't dark, but it didn't seem light either. _This must be where I sent Zaragio... _she thought to herself. _But why am I here? Did someone summon me...?_

Looking over her shoulder, Lina noticed two figures. One of them was Zaragio, unconscious, with his head resting on the lap of his companion. The other was a young woman with long brown hair, who was looking lovingly at the monster. Lina knew instantly who the woman was.

"Veridia..." she gasped. The woman was quite beautiful- now Lina knew why Zara was so cute. Veridia looked up at Lina with grateful, lavender eyes.

"Lina Inverse... thank you." She said.

"Thanks? For what?" Lina asked.

"For what you did for Zara. You saved our- no, _your_ son." The woman said softly.

"M-mine...?" Lina stammered. Veridia continued.

"I wanted to thank you for all that you have done for him. He really loves you, and I'm sure that with you he will have a better life than he ever had a chance to have with us. Please, teach him to use his powers for good instead of evil. I'm sure that you'll find a way to help him reach his full potential. You'll be a much better parent than we were..."

"What are you talking about?" Lina exclaimed. "Bad parents? Both of you gave up your freaking _lives _for him! Gourry and I could never compare to that!"

Veridia shook her head. "Just because you are alive and we are not does not measure dedication. You allowed yourself to be attacked in Zara's place, and would have died had Xellos not been there. Gourry allowed Zara the full chance to kill him so that he could regain his willpower. You two are just as dedicated as we were. Things just did not go as well for us. Please, take good care of Zara. Can you promise me that?"

"I promise." Lina smiled.

"Thank you. Now, I believe that you need to return to your own dimension. I appreciate everything, Lina Inverse."

Lina smiled. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Zara's in good hands."

* * *

Lina appeared again in the temple with a flash of light. She didn't have much time to examine her surroundings when she was met with a large hug from a little boy.

"Lina! Lina you're back!" Zara sobbed.

"Zara!" Lina exclaimed, picking up the little boy and squeezing him in her arms. He didn't seem to be harmed at all, which was a huge relief. "Oh, Zara. What are you crying about?"

"I... was so afraid...that you had left me..." He stuttered.

"I will _never_ leave you." Lina said. She pulled the boy tighter, and then set him back down. "Never."

"R-really?" Zara's eyes sparkled as he looked up at the sorceress.

"Of course. I love you, silly. And when you love someone a whole lot, you always stay with them, to help them out, and protect them." Lina grinned. "Why do you think I can never get rid of _this guy_?" She motioned playfully at Gourry, who was standing beside them, watching the two of them talk.

Gourry smiled back. "Well, does 'this guy' get a hug too?" He asked.

"I guess so." Lina laughed, grabbing Gourry and pulling him closer. He returned the gesture, and Zara grabbed onto their legs, joining the hug.

Amelia, Ozzel, and even Zelgadis couldn't help smiling as they watched the group celebrate.

"Well, Zaragio and Veridia are both dead now... so I guess Zara really is an orphan." Amelia commented.

"I doubt that. He's had parents all along." Zel replied, pointing to the threesome that appeared so happy together.

"You're right, Mister Zelgadis. I guess he has."

* * *

Xellos and Lorelei had been watching the last part of the battle secretly, but once Zaragio was destroyed, they left, realising that it would probably lead to some beautiful moments that could be potentially harmful to their health. Afterward, they continued with their missions, but always remembered to often pay visits to their favourite humans (and dragons too.)

Zander stayed in Sairaag. He had offered to help Sylphiel with the rebuilding of the town, and in return, she promised to teach him some more powerful healing spells.

Ozzel finally got a master who wouldn't order her to do evil things, and Prince Philionel said that the Seyruun royal family had never had such a hard-working chief maid.

Zelgadis continued on his search for a cure, and discovered some ancient, underground ruins just outside the city of Seyruun. They would take a while to fully explore, but he was convinced that the time would be worth it. Of course, since the ruins were of historical and archaeological interest to the Kingdom of Seyruun as well, it was Amelia's job to assist Zelgadis in exploring them. Or, at least, that was what she said anyway... The prince suspected that there were other reasons besides an interest in her country's history that drove Amelia out to work with the chimera every day, but he couldn't complain, seeing his daughter so happy.

Lina and Gourry continued their wandering, capturing bandits and staying on the lookout for a new sword for Gourry. The one he had received as a gift from Sylphiel was nice, but it was no Sword of Light. Of course, Lina also had an apprentice to train now. Zara was a fast learner, and, thanks to Gourry, he was becoming proficient with a sword as well as magical spells. The little boy had never been happier, and he could tell that his companions felt the same way.

And everyone lived quite contentedly... that is, until some other crazy thing happened that made them all have to save the world _again_... ah, but that's another story for another day!

~The End~

* * *

_(A/N: *sniff* Well, there you go. Zaragio wasn't meant to live through the story, but I felt like it would be too sad to have him die when he was still evil. There really was good inside of him, they just had to look deep enough. :3)_


	22. Extra:Lorelei & Zara's Exciting Epilogue

_This is a little extra story that I thought up from a prompt by my brother. I figured that it would make a nice epilogue-sort-of-thing since it takes place a couple of months after the end of the story, and seems to fit their daily life pretty well. (I seriously think that this sort of stuff happens a lot.) :3_

* * *

**EXTRA- Lorelei and Zara's Exciting Epilogue!**

"Lorelei? Where has that little monster run off to? Honestly, she so terribly hard to keep up with…" Xellos mumbled, searching around for his adopted daughter who felt like running off somewhere every chance she got.

Suddenly, the snow on the branch above him fell to the ground with a crash as Lorelei sprung out from behind it. "Surprise!" She yelled.

"Ah, Lorelei. There you are. I was wondering where you had gone off to."

Lorelei slumped disappointedly. "Oh father! You didn't even flinch!"

Xellos patted the little monster's head consolingly. "Haha, trying to scare someone, are we? Might I suggest not targeting monsters? They tend not to scare as easily... at least not the strong ones anyway."

Lorelei nodded glumly. "I suppose so... say, do you know of anyone who can teach me how to scare things easily?"

"I can think of a few people actually." Xellos replied, grinning.

"Alright! Sounds fun! Let's go!" Lorelei exclaimed

"Oh, you want to do that now? Hmm... Lord Beastmaster might get mad at us for slacking off... but our mission has hit a bit of a standstill anyway, so we really have nothing better to do! Come on, Lorelei!"

* * *

"**Get! Out! Of! My! House!"**

"Oh, but Filia, we're here on strictly educational purposes!" Xellos said teasingly.

"I don't care what purposes you have- you're not supposed to be in here anyway!" The dragon fumed, her yellow tail writhing in anger.

"But Miss Filia, I just want to learn the best way to scare people- humans in particular. Would you teach me? Please oh please!" Lorelei begged.

"You know I would never teach a monster like you anything!" Filia swung her mace toward the little monster, who nimbly dodged it with a giggle.

"But Filia! We LOVE you!" Lorelei enticed, teleporting behind the dragon to envelop her in a surprise hug.

Filia violently separated herself from the chuckling monster's grasp. "You idiot! Monsters can't love!"

"Oh yes they can!" Lorelei defended. "Just ask Zara!"

"Who is Zara?" Filia asked, confusedly.

"My bestest friend in the whole world." Lorelei replied haughtily. "Even though he's half human. I don't care. We're going to get married someday, but I don't think he knows it yet."

"Talk about 'ignorance is bliss..." Filia muttered, already feeling bad for the half-monster, whoever he was.

"You've just given me an idea, my dear." Xellos remarked to Lorelei.

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, you want to scare humans, right? Well, who better to teach you about scaring humans than a human themselves? And which human do we know that knows a good deal about monsters? I'm sure that Zara's mentor might be willing to teach you a few things if get him to beg enough."

"Oh father, you're a genius!" Lorelei exclaimed. "That's what I'll do! Goodbye, Miss Filia! I'm off to learn some valuable lessons!" She teleported away.

Filia watched the little monster go with a sigh. "Don't you want to follow her? Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble?" Filia asked Xellos.

"Nah. She's fine on her own. I trust her. Besides, now it's just the two of us. Don't tell me you don't want to spend some alone time with Xellos, huh my dear Filia?" Xellos waved his finger tauntingly.

Filia's eye twitched. "GET! OUT! OF! MY! HOUSE!"

* * *

"Alright, so the principles of this spell are quite simple, though it takes quite a bit of effort to perfect the technique. You do remember all that I told you about the technique, right?" Lina was instructing Zara, trying to teach him as much as she could about the spells that she knew. She turned around. Zara had a baffled look on his face that reminded her of Gourry. "Were you paying attention to that lesson at all?" She asked, suddenly exasperated.

"Well... maybe a little..." Zara mumbled.

"You were sitting there making snowballs the whole time, weren't you?" Lina was not pleased. Just because they had travelled to a place that normally got snow in the winter months, didn't mean that they needed to slack off. "Gourry? Can you tell this kid about what he missed?" Lina asked, turning to her companion.

"Lina! Look! I built a snow fort!" Gourry exclaimed from behind a wall of compacted snow. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm going insane..." Lina muttered, shoving her face into her gloved palm. Usually Zara was good about paying attention to her lessons, but Gourry had often proved to be a distraction. An almost-four-year-old could pay attention better than that jellyfish-brain.

Suddenly, a shrill voice pierced through Lina's thoughts. "Hey there!"

Lina fell over, leaving her imprint in the snow. "L-Lorelei? What are you doing here? You scared me!" She yelled.

Lorelei seemed pleased. "Scared you? Really? I did? Why?"

"Why?" Lina was getting annoyed with the little monster. "Because you popped out of nowhere! That's why!"

"So appearing out of nowhere scares people?" Lorelei asked innocently.

"Yes! It does! Especially if you yell out like you did just now!"

Lorelei smiled brightly. "Wow! I'm learning things already! Father was right when he told me to get your help!"

Lina sneered. "So Xellos was behind this after all, huh? What do you want my help with exactly?"

Lorelei got down and looked up at Lina with big, tearful eyes. "Please, Lina Inverse, would you be so kind as to teach me how to scare humans?"

Lina was taken aback. "S-scaring humans? Why on earth would I teach you that, you despicable little monster?"

"Because!" Lorelei whined. "You're a human! And you know the most about monsters of any human that I know!"

"No! No! And I will say it again, NO!" Lina shot back. She did not like Lorelei, and was not happy about the prospect of teaching the monster anything. It was hard enough teaching things to Zara- someone that she actually_ liked_.

Lorelei turned to Zara. "_Help me_." She whispered. Zara stepped forward and tugged on Lina's coat.

"Please, Lina?" He asked. Lina stiffened at the tone of his voice. She was not going to give in to him. She was not. She was not.

"Lina, pretty please will you help Lorelei? She's my best friend. Please?" Zara looked up at Lina with his eyes sparkling like always. Lina cringed. Curse this little boy and her weakness towards him.

"Well... alright. Sit down and I'll teach you what I know. Okay?" Lina pointed to Lorelei.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Lina Inverse!" Lorelei said happily.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Lina mumbled. And no matter how much she tried, she couldn't hate Zara for this. It was impossible. She _could _hate Lorelei, though, and the monster sensed it.

"Okay, the trick to scaring people is to appeal to their sense of danger. All fears are rooted into just one- and that is the fear of losing something important to you." Lina lectured.

Lorelei raised her hand. "I thought that all fears came from the fear of death."

"Your _life_ counts as something important to you!" Lina shot back. "But it could also be losing an item that you treasure, or a person close to you. Right?"

"Oh. Right. I hadn't thought about it like that before." Lorelei responded. This lesson was proving to be insightful at the nature of fear indeed.

"Now, I think that the first thing to learn would be to appeal to the body's natural alarm system. Like the way you snuck up on me earlier. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Lorelei said.

"So, the main thing in this case is to take your enemy by surprise. You've got to be unexpected, or they won't be sufficiently frightened. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am!" Lorelei replied.

"Alright, I have an assignment for you." Lina said. "See the tall, blonde guy over there?" She pointed to Gourry, who was still working on his snow fort.

"Yeah, the jellyfish-brain?" Lorelei asked.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL HIM THAT!" Lina nearly strangled Lorelei. "Anyway, I need you to sneak up on him and try to scare him. Do you think you can do that?"

"Got it!" Lorelei replied. She quickly materialised her staff and disappeared. Lina grinned. She had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen.

Gourry was paying no attention to what Lina and Zara were doing, (it was doubtful that he had even noticed Lorelei's appearance.)

Suddenly, Lorelei appeared behind him with a loud shriek, wielding her staff in an attempt to catch him off guard. But Gourry's quick reflexes took over and,

_KLINK!_

"Wha-wha-wha-whaaaat?" Lorelei gasped, seeing Gourry with his sword drawn and easily blocking her feigned attack. There was no fear in his eyes, only determination, which suddenly turned into confusion.

"Huh? Lorelli? Where did you come from? What are you doing?" He asked, forgetting the monster's name.

"Th-the name is_ Lorelei_... and... HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" She demanded.

"Do what?" Gourry asked.

"Th-the sword! So fast! You weren't even scared!" She stumbled. Suddenly, she head the sound of laughter behind her.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~! Oh, Gourry, that was GREAT! Perfect! I loved it!" Lina exclaimed.

"M-Miss Lina Inverse!" Lorelei gasped. "What do you mean?"

"That was a test. And you failed. Miserably." Lina said back.

"Wh-what?" Lorelei was taken aback.

"You see, just like fighting styles, different ways of scaring people won't work on everyone. You have to know your enemy before doing anything. In this case, you tried to sneak up on Gourry- he may be a bit slow in the brains department, but he has killer reflexes. In other words, it's nearly impossible to sneak up on him. Do you understand why you failed?" Lina asked.

"That was cruel!" Lorelei spat. Lina just laughed.

The little monster turned to Zara. "Well, what's the most scary thing you know of, Zara? And don't say bad monsters, 'cause I know that's what you're going to say."

"Um..." Zara thought for a moment. "Probably Lina when she's angry." He answered.

Lorelei burst out laughing. "Lina Inverse when she's angry? Is she really that scary? Oh, that's priceless!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU DESPICABLE LITTLE MONSTER?" Lina snarled, her eyes flaming. Lorelei gasped, and backed away quickly.

"Oh crap, you're right! That_ is_ scary!" She turned around. "What about the dumb blonde over there? Hey! You!"

Gourry looked at her. "What is it?"

"I want to know what you're afraid of." Lorelei responded. Zara nodded. He was also interested.

"What am I afraid of? Let's see..." Gourry thought for a moment. "A lot of things, actually."

"Like what?" Lorelei asked. Monsters always loved hearing people talk about their fears.

"I guess... something happening to Lina... running out of food... something happening to Lina... my sword getting broken... something happening to Lina..."

"Ow! ow~! Okay, stop it! You're giving me a headache!" Lorelei groaned, clutching her head painfully. "That's not fear, it's love!"

"Oh. Sorry." Gourry apologised. "Is that bad?"

"YES! IT HURTS!" Lorelei shot back. "Anyway, what are you afraid of, Lina Inverse?"

"Who, me? I'm not afraid of anything. Lina Inverse has no fear." Lina replied coolly.

Lorelei frowned. "Well, there must be something that you're afraid of. Let's see... oh! Now I remember! Zara! Quickly! Help me find some gastropods!"

"Wh-what? No!" Lina shot behind Gourry, clutching his arm defensively. "Don't you dare bring those _things _into this!"

"Uh, Lorelei? Judging by the current atmospheric conditions, I'd say that the chance that there would be active gastropods in this area is very slim." Zara said.

"Oh, darn it. I was hoping to scare Lina Inverse again." Lorelei pouted.

"Now look here you little monster! I am not going to just go along with whatever you want! I already taught you a whole bunch already, so why don't you just scram! Get out of here!" Lina yelled.

"You know what? I think I will!" Lorelei shouted angrily. "After all, you're just trying to trick me anyway!" The monster turned around to Zara and gave him a quick hug. "See you later, Zara!" She said brightly, jumping up and disappearing.

"Bye-bye, Lorelei!" Zara called.

"Honestly, that stupid monster..." Lina groaned.

"Uh, Lina? Were you planning on letting go of my arm anytime soon?" Gourry asked.

"Ah! Sorry!" Lina snapped her hands away.

"I didn't... I was just saying..." Gourry began, but didn't finish his sentence.

"So, what do we do now? It's getting dark." Lina observed.

"Well, we're pretty far away from the nearest town. What do you say we camp out here for the night?" Gourry suggested.

"Ugh! No way! I hate camping in the snow! Too cold!" Lina exclaimed, kicking a pile of snow into the air. "You know I hate cold weather! Let's try getting to the nearest town!"

"Well, okay, but only if you don't mind walking another eight hours, and then having to go to the trouble of trying to find a place to stay at 1:00 in the morning, and..."

Lina set her belongings down on the ground with a thud. "I hate it when you make sense." She muttered to Gourry.

* * *

They began to set up camp, clearing an area of the snow, and building a fire with the firewood that they carried with them. It didn't take them long to cook dinner- and even less time to eat it. It was dark, and the group was tired as they sat around the campfire, trying to keep warm.

"I am so done with winter!" Lina complained. "Starting tomorrow, we are heading for somewhere tropical. I can't take much more of this!"

"Really? I kind of like playing in the snow. It's fun." Gourry said.

"Yeah, me too!" Zara agreed.

"Why do I get the feeling that you both want me to freeze to death?" Lina asked.

"Aw, come on, Lina! You know we wouldn't want that!" Gourry said teasingly.

"Yeah! Who would teach me magic stuff?" Zara asked.

Lina glared at the two of them. "Whatever. Come here, Zara."

The child obeyed, coming to Lina's side. She picked him up, and carried him over to where Gourry was sitting. Lina sat down beside the swordsman. "H-hey, what are you doing?" Gourry asked.

"You two are going to keep me warm. I'm cold." Lina said back, pulling herself closer.

Zara hugged Lina tightly, and Gourry put his arm around her. He was surprised that she didn't even flinch. "I thought you didn't like this sort of thing." He observed.

"I don't." Lina replied sternly. "But I like being cold even less."

Gourry laughed. "Oh Lina, what are we going to do with you?"

"You're going to keep me from freezing to death! That's what you're going to do! Now shut up!" Lina shouted back.

* * *

Zara didn't usually sleep that much. As a monster, he didn't need to- he was usually quite happy with Lina and Gourry, and the positive emotions kept his energy up. So usually at night he would simply lie there and look up at the stars, thinking about all the things that had happened that day. This particular night, he was quite happy, since the clear sky gave him an excellent view of the millions of stars above them. The three people had combined their sleeping bags, along with a large blanket, and Zara was in the middle with Lina on one side and Gourry on the other. The boy was drifting contentedly in an almost meditative state, until a voice broke him out of it.

"Hey! Hey, Zara! Are you awake?" The voice whispered.

"Lorelei?" Zara asked, sitting up carefully so as not to disturb Lina or Gourry.

"Yeah, it's me." She replied, making herself visible. "You're not going to sleep, are you?"

"No, I'm not tired." Zara replied.

"Good. There's something I want to show you." The monster said.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well, night-time is the best time for exploring." Lorelei replied.

"Really? I didn't know that. I always thought that night was for sleeping." Zara said innocently.

Lorelei scoffed. "For humans, maybe. But we _are_ monsters, after all. We can do whatever we want at night!"

"So where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere special- follow me!" Lorelei motioned for Zara to follow her as she walked in one direction.

Zara got up carefully, so as not to disturb Lina and Gourry. He made sure that the two were close to each other, so that it was less likely that they'd notice his absence before he returned. It was still very cold, though Zara wasn't as bothered by the temperature as a normal human would be. Lorelei was still in her short-sleeves, indicating that the cold weather didn't bother her one bit.

"Come on! It'll be quicker if we fly there!" Lorelei called from the air.

"Right! _Levitation_!" Zara said, joining Lorelei in the air. He hadn't quite gotten enough power to work the Ray Wing spell on his own yet. "So, where are we going?" He asked as they flew.

"It's an old building that was made by humans, but it's abandoned now, and ghosts inhabit it. At least, that's what the rumours say. And I wanted to check on the credibility of the rumours." Lorelei answered.

"A haunted house, huh? That sounds cool! I hope we see a real ghost!" Zara said grinning.

"We probably won't. I'm not sure about the rumour- it's probably not true. But we can still have some fun exploring the place. Oh! Look! There it is!"

Lorelei pointed as a large building came into view. Zara noticed that it was much too large to be a house- it must have served some other purpose. The two landed on the ground in front of the doors of the decrepit building. "Do we just go straight in?" Zara asked.

"Sure thing." Lorelei said. She was looking forward to having to blast the doors in, but Zara opened them without any trouble. They walked inside, their footsteps echoing on the marble floor. "Whoa! This place is like a palace!" Lorelei gasped.

"I think that it used to be a theatre." Zara replied, looking around.

"Well, I don't see any ghosts." Lorelei observed. "So let's get exploring! This is so exciting!"

* * *

The pair looked around, and found a series of rooms behind the stage. They went into one, which had a large amount of boxes and wardrobes. The walls were lined with mirrors, though many of them were broken.

"This must have been the costume room. Look at all this stuff." Lorelei said, studying the room.

"Hey, look at this!" Zara pulled a hat out of one of the boxes. It was blue, with a large brim and a billowy white feather attached to it. He put it on his head, though it was a bit too big for him and sunk down almost covering his eyes. Pushing the hat up further, he asked, "What do you think? Does it look good?"

"Heck yeah!" Lorelei replied. "This looks like fun! Let's play dress-up!"

The two went around the room, trying on various articles of clothing. Lorelei dematerialised her wings for the moment, as the dresses and other garments were not made for someone who was part bird. After quite a while of playing around with the costumes, Zara had on the blue hat with the feather, along with a black cape that was long enough to pool on the floor around his feet. He held out a foam sword, as if he was actually going to hurt someone with it, though it would never be strong enough to actually do damage to anything. Lorelei was wearing a long pink dress over her regular clothing, and held a matching parasol over her head dramatically. "We look amazing!" She exclaimed. "Fit for the stage! Come on, let's go!" She rushed out to where the stage was.

"Hey, wait for me!" Zara called. He followed his friend out onto the stage, where some assorted props lay, abandoned.

"Look! A balcony!" Lorelei pointed to the structure on the stage, which had obviously been set up for some sort of romantic play. "Oh, let's do the balcony scene! I'll be Juliet!" She exclaimed, using her wings again to fly up to the balcony. Zara watched her in confusion.

Lorelei stood on the balcony with her parasol, dramatically pretending to be Juliet. She sat on the railing of the balcony, looking down at Zara. "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" She stared at him, waiting for some sort of response. Zara looked up at the monster with Gourry's famous expression, little question marks popping out around his head.

"Lorelei, what are you doing?"

Lorelei groaned. "No! No! You're supposed to say 'Soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

"What does that mean?" Zara questioned, still looking puzzled. Lorelei banged her head on the railing of the balcony.

"Kids these days... no respect for literature..." She sighed. Flying down to meet her friend, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry. Don't worry about it. Now, do you know any stories that we _could_ act out?"

"Stories?" Zara asked. "I know a lot about Lina blowing up stuff..."

"No, no! I mean like Fairy Tales!" Lorelei said.

"Oh, well, Amelia once read me this one about a prince who got turned into a frog, and then a princess came along and changed him back..."

"Oh! The Frog Prince! That has kissing in it, right?" Lorelei blushed. "Yeah! Let's do that one!"

Zara didn't notice Lorelei's face; he was looking off in a different direction.

"Alright, you can be the prince, and I'll be the princess. Now, if I remember correctly, the story starts off... Zara? Are you paying attention?" Lorelei looked at her friend who didn't seem to be paying any mind to what she was saying.

"Do you hear music?" He asked.

Lorelei listened with her sensitive ears. Sure enough, there was a sweet melody floating through the theatre. "Where is it coming from?" She asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, but we should find out. It could be a ghost!" Zara exclaimed, running off to follow the sound.

"W-wait for me! Hey!" Lorelei ran after him, following the haunting sound of the melody.

* * *

It was still very dark when Lina began to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was not the absence of a little boy, but the fact that her face was right next to Gourry's. "Aah!" She sat up quickly, blushing, but suddenly realised how cold it was. Lina dove back under the blanket, shivering, not caring how close she was to the swordsman as long as she wasn't cold.

"Lina? Huh?" Gourry began to wake up. "What's the matter?"

"I'm still freezing!" She exclaimed.

"Well, I can see that. But where is Zara?"

Lina looked around. She hadn't noticed him gone, and was scolding herself for it. "I don't know where he is. He wasn't here when I woke up."

"Where did he go? Zara?" Gourry called for the little boy, but no answer came.

"Did he run off somewhere?" Lina asked, beginning to get rather concerned.

"He could have." Gourry replied. "Though I don't know where he would go."

"Me neither, unless..." Lina's voice trailed off as she thought.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask you something." A voice called from behind them.

The two of them turned around. Lina blushed and moved a few inches away from Gourry. "Xellos!" She stammered. "This isn't... it's not..."

"What are you talking about? I wanted to ask you about Lorelei. Have you seen her lately?" Xellos asked.

"What? You mean the girl with bird wings? She was here this afternoon." Gourry answered.

"Yes, I know that. She told me that you were able to defend against her surprise attack, and that you gave her a headache. That's quite impressive, especially for you, Mister Gourry." Xellos said.

"What do you mean, '_especially for him_?" Lina asked angrily. If anyone was going to insult Gourry, it was going to be her, not some monster.

"Ah, but that's not the point. She disappeared a little while ago, and I thought that maybe she came here. Have you seen Lorelei around lately, as in the last few minutes? Or have you been too... busy?" Xellos asked, suspiciously.

"W-we just woke up like a minute ago!" Lina defended. "And anyway, we can't seem to find Zara, and he's the only one that Lorelei would come to visit..." Her voice trailed off as she took in the situation. "Oh, crap, no!"

"What's wrong, Lina?" Gourry asked.

"You idiot! Lorelei must have taken Zara somewhere!" Lina replied, hitting Gourry over the head.

"Taken? You make it sound like my Lorelei is a kidnapper. What makes you think that he didn't go with her out of free will?" Xellos asked. "They are best friends, right?"

Lina didn't want to admit it, but Xellos had a point. "But where would they go?" Gourry asked.

"Well, I have a hunch as to where Lorelei might have decided to go, but..." Xellos' voice trailed off.

"But _what_?" Lina growled.

"Well, it's an old theatre that is supposedly haunted. Lorelei wanted to check it out to see if the rumours of ghosts were true, but I kept her away. You see, that theatre is actually possessed by a large group of demons. That's why it was abandoned by humans. They take the forms of ghosts to trick people who wander into the house, but they are vicious and bloodthirsty, and would have no reservations about attacking a pair of children- even if they _were_ monster children." Xellos explained.

Lina stood up, ignoring the cold. Her rage at Xellos was enough to keep her warm. "You mean that, because of _your_ little monster friend, _my son_ could be in danger?"

"Uh oh." Gourry said to Xellos. "She just called Zara her son. That means that you are in some big trouble."

"What?" Xellos asked, but was cut off when Lina began strangling him. "Ah! Ow! Can't... breathe..." He groaned.

"You're a monster! You don't need to breathe!" Lina accused,

"Oh, yes." Xellos replied. "But could you please let me go? I can help you find them. I was going to go help Lorelei, after all."

Lina let go of Xellos. "You'd better help me find my kid. And he'd better not have so much as a scratch on him, or you are going to be very, very sorry!"

"Right, right." Xellos replied, knowing that he could not promise anything. "The theatre is this way." He directed, flying.

"_Ray Wing_!" Lina shouted, and joined Xellos in the air.

"Hey! What about me?" Gourry called.

"Stay here and hold down your little snow-fortress-thing. We'll be back soon!" Lina replied.

Gourry watched the two fly away. "Why do I always get left behind?" He sighed.

* * *

"This must have been the music room. Look at all the instruments." Lorelei observed, as they entered the place that seemed to be the source of the music. A large grand piano sat at the far end of the room, surrounded by other instruments and music stands. The music, however, seemed just to be coming from the piano.

"No one is playing it." Zara observed. "Do you think it's a ghost?"

"It could just be an enchanted piano." Lorelei said.

"But I don't feel any magical power coming from it." Zara replied. "But I do feel an evil presence..." Suddenly, all the instruments in the room seemed to come to life. A trumpet flew forward in an attempt to hit Zara and Lorelei, but they quickly dodged. "The instruments! They're attacking us!" Zara shrieked.

"Get down!" Lorelei yelled, ducking out of the path of a clarinet. "Hey, it's not all that bad. At least we're not being attacked with a tuba, or a bass."

Suddenly, all the instrument cases around the room opened, and the instruments began flying around, directed at the two kids in the room. "Me and my big mouth!" Lorelei groaned as she dodged frantically. She pulled out her staff and held it defensively, fending off the instruments.

"If I only had a sword..." Zara said. Suddenly he got an idea. He shot a small Fireball at a violin, causing the main instrument to burst into flames. Grabbing the bow and holding it the way Gourry had taught him, he managed for fend off some more of the instruments.

"Great thinking!" Lorelei congratulated.

"Thanks!" Zara replied, striking at the instruments once more.

Seeing themselves outmatched in that form, the dark presences retreated from the instruments, leaving them lying on the floor. Instead, the dark figures lunged for the little boy and girl.

"Those aren't ghosts, they're demons!" Lorelei gasped.

"What do we do?" Zara asked.

"There's only one thing to do." Lorelei replied. "We will scream. Very loudly. While running for our lives."

"Okay." Zara nodded.

"~!" The two ran as fast as they could out of the room, but the dark forms were faster than they were and followed closely behind.

"They're catching up!" Lorelei yelled.

"Wait, can't we fly?" Zara asked.

"Oh. Yeah. That's right. I forgot." Lorelei said, feeling stupid.

"_Levitation_!" Zara called as he flew to keep up with Lorelei. "So what's our plan now?"

"We'll lead them back to the stage! They'll be easier to fight in a larger space!" Lorelei responded.

"Alright then, let's go!"

* * *

The two kids stood on the stage, just underneath the balcony that they had been using as a playground just earlier. Now it seemed more like a shelter, but the presence was also unnerving, as they nearly had their backs against the wall.

"We have to attack them!" Lorelei shouted.

"But there's so many!" Zara cried, beginning to panic.

"Calm down! If we just work together to combine our powers, we can make this work! My shadow magic doesn't really seem to affect them that much, but if you were to combine your fire magic with it, it might be useful to defeat those things." Lorelei strategized. "Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll try." Zara replied, but he wasn't sure that his magical abilities had improved enough to work very well against the demons that they were facing. "Fireball!"

Unfortunately, even with Lina's training, Zara's Fireballs were still quite lacking in power. They were now larger than the few sparks that he could create before, but still not powerful enough to affect the demons that the two were facing.

"Great! You can't even make a working Fireball! Now what are we supposed to do?" Lorelei gasped. The figures grew steadily closer, preparing for their attack. "Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!" Zara was shouting, but to no avail. The demons lunged at the two of them with an attack, but suddenly,

_BOOM!_

The demons were blasted backwards with an enormously powerful Fireball. "Z-Zara!" Lorelei gasped, seeing the damage. "You did it!"

"That wasn't me!" Zara replied anxiously.

"Then who was it?" Lorelei asked. Suddenly, a voice called out from the other side of the theatre.

"Hey! You two! Stand back! I'm gonna blast those demons into dust!"

Zara's eyes sparkled. "Lina!" He called.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..._

_...so on and so forth..._

_DRAGON SLAVE!"_

Lina's explosion nearly blew up the entire theatre. The ceiling began to cave in, but Xellos created a protective barrier around the group so that they weren't harmed by it. Standing amidst the rubble, Zara and Lorelei looked around. The night sky and the stars were now visible through the roof, and there were no more demons left.

Zara and Lorelei looked up gratefully with sparkling eyes at the people who had come to their rescue.

"Father!"

"Lina!"

_THUD!_

_THWAK!_

Xellos gently tapped Lorelei on the head with his staff, while Lina gave Zara a hard- well, not _too_ hard- whack over the head with a slipper.

"That was quite naughty of you to run off without telling me your whereabouts. Lord Beastmaster will be disappointed with you for sure." Xellos chided.

"You little idiot! How dare you sneak off like that! Do you realise how serious that is? You could have gotten killed!" Lina yelled.

"S-sorry..." Zara and Lorelei both replied at the same time.

"Well, it seems that neither of them are hurt. In fact, I like the costumes. They're quite interesting." Xellos laughed. "So, shall we go?" He pulled Lorelei to his side.

"You just be sure to keep that _thing_ away from my kid!" Lina sneered, sending a pointed glare at Lorelei, emphasising the word 'thing.'

Lorelei glared back, but didn't say anything. She just turned to Zara. "Bye, Zara! See you again _soon_!" The monster sent a glare at Lina on the word 'soon.'

"Okay then! Goodbye for now!" Xellos said, hurriedly getting himself and Lorelei out of the area.

Lina sighed. "Alright Zara, you ready to go back now? I'm sure that Gourry is worried about you too."

"Yeah, let's go back." The little boy agreed, smiling. Lina cast a Ray Wing, and began to head back to their campsite, carrying Zara.

* * *

"Lorelei?"

"Yes, father?" Lorelei asked, apprehensively. She hated it when her father was upset with her.

"I just wanted to say one thing about what happened tonight."

"Y-yes...?"

Xellos smiled mischievously at his companion. "Nice work."

"H-huh?" Lorelei was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Lina would have gotten quite angry with us if I had not properly scolded you, not that you didn't deserve a bit of it for making us worry. But I was impressed by the chaos you caused. It was wonderful! If anything, I think that Lord Beastmaster would be proud."

Lorelei's eyes sparkled. "R-really? Oh, thank you!" She hugged Xellos tightly. He blushed.

"Yes, well, just let me know where you're going before you leave to go somewhere. That way I don't have to make guesses like this time. Deal?"

"Deal!" Lorelei agreed. "Oh, won't Miss Filia be excited to hear this story the next time we visit her!"

"Who says we can't visit now?"

"But won't she be asleep?"

"We could wake her up."

Lorelei and Xellos both laughed. "Sounds like a good plan to me!" Lorelei exclaimed, and the two disappeared to disturb poor Filia again.

* * *

"Zara?"

"Huh? What is it, Lina?" Zara asked.

"I just wanted to ask something. You do know the reason that I was so angry with you, don't you?"

"It's 'cause I did a bad thing, right?"

"No, not really." Lina replied. "It was because you did a _dangerous_ thing. I don't want you to get hurt. I care about you, and get worried when you're in danger. So don't do dangerous stuff like that, okay?"

"Okay. I promise, I won't." He replied, hugging Lina. The two finally reached the campsite and landed safely on the ground. Lina looked around.

"Gourry? Hey, Gourry, where are you?"

"Huh? Lina? Zara? Oh, I'm over here! I protected the fortress, just like you told me to!" Gourry poked his head above the walls of packed snow. "See?"

"Oh. my. gosh. Are you really _that_ stupid?" Lina asked incredulously.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Lina threw a snowball back at him.

"I wasn't being serious! Not get back in bed! It'll be morning soon, and we've got a lot of sleep to catch up on, thanks to that stupid Lorelei!" Lina yelled.

Once the three were settled back the way they had been, Lina and Gourry began to drift off to sleep.

"G'night again." Lina murmured.

"Don't worry. Tomorrow's another day." Gourry replied.

"I swear, if tomorrow is anything like today, or yesterday, or the day before, then..." Lina seemed to think over what she was saying. "Nah, never mind. I don't think that I would change any of it. No matter how annoying those monsters can get."

"I agree, Lina." Zara replied, hugging her. "G'night."

**~End~ **

* * *

(A/N: I feel kind of bad for Lorelei. She tries to be somewhat romantic, but Zara's too young to really understand, so she just ends up failing at it. Poor girl.

Yes, this is the end of the story! *sniff* Thanks so much to everyone who read the whole thing! I had so much fun writing it! :3)


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